Harry Potter and the Elemental Warriors
by Tanydwr
Summary: HIATUS. 'Curses', Part 2. PostOotP. Mysterious events happen after Harry's fifthyear. People disappear, the Potters' grave is raided, a special pensieve appears, and a strange woman visits the Dursleys...
1. Chapter 1: A Mysterious Visitor

Curses, Prophecies and the Elemental Guardians … Part 2 

And here is the sequel to _The Elemental Guardians_ and _Fifteen Years_ (Part 1 and Part 1 ½).

**Disclaimer for whole fic:** The world of Harry Potter is not mine. Kathryn, the Elemental Guardians/Warriors, Radella, Alura, Damion, Selene, Orion and everyone else are mine. I have a _lot_ of OCs in this, I'll try to avoid making them unbelievable.

**Summary:** Harry's summer after fifth-year starts off strangely when a mysterious woman demands a 'box' from Petunia. A break-in to the Department of Mysteries and a pensieve of memories declaring Sirius' innocence are just the latest things in a string of mysterious occurrences as some of the casualties of the previous war start to disappear and a house thought lost returns to deliver people thought long dead… And who is the woman revealed as Harry's godmother? AU in timeline, pre-Half Blood Prince.

**Notes:** I started this before finishing _The Elemental Guardians_ because I wanted to get the first chapter written before Half Blood Prince came out to avoid taking too much influence from it. However, there are definitely going to be certain elements from it – news articles, nicknames, and such. Possibly characters, but not many considering that it will comply with _The Elemental Guardians_, not the new canon presented in _Half-Blood Prince_. And as for the death…

For my views on _Half-Blood Prince_, see the end of Chapter 14 of _Teasing, Teaching and Time Travel_. I'm working on Chapter 15.

I hope everyone enjoys.

Pairings are as in the previous story, and there were definite clues left as to who would get together with whom out of the 'kids'.

Enjoy!

Without further ado, I present to you…

Harry Potter and the Elemental Warriors 

**By Tanydwr**

Chapter 1: A Mysterious Visitor 

_5th July 2003:_

Harry Potter, young wizard and 'delinquent nephew' of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling intensely. There was nothing about the ceiling that was particularly interesting – it was plain and white with a single light fitting – but it was a good thing to stare at when you were bored out of your skull.

He'd tried not to be, but to no avail.

After reading through his schoolbooks (almost all of them, but for those written by Gilderoy Lockhart), he had concluded that he should have done so when he was doing the original learning. He'd been disgusted to discover that he'd made Transfiguration that much harder on himself by not reading the opening chapters of each of the books. Furthermore, he'd had no idea of the fluctuations in a wizard or witch's power as they progressed through puberty because he'd skipped over the introductions to each volume of _The Standard Book of Spells_.

In light of this, he had written to Hermione, requesting she send a catalogue from Flourish and Blotts so he could see what books he wanted or needed. A day later, Hedwig had arrived with it. Just this morning, he had given Tonks a letter to take to Flourish and Blotts, with orders to remove the money from his vault directly (he enclosed a letter for the goblins).

However, since he'd read nearly all his books (particularly the Defence ones), he was bored, and it was only seven o'clock in the evening. Idly, he decided that he'd go through his books and find spells he needed. Maybe he could use them for the DA.

He sighed again, and then a slow smile spread across his face. It was time for dinner.

XXXXX

_Three hours later:_

Harry was sure what he had done was unethical, but it sure as hell was fun. He flung himself on his bed, sniggering. All he'd done was cook dinner for the Dursleys…

It wasn't his fault they took offence to his wild grin as he served them.

Harry wasn't sure if it was the effect of having Voldemort dive through his head or just his Marauder genes kicking in when he had served dinner. All the same, it had been fun. They were too worried about what he might have done to the food to enjoy it. And they were too worried about Harry's reaction in telling the Order if they refused to eat it.

'_As if I'd poison them,'_ Harry snorted mentally. _'Too obvious. Who else would be able to?'_ He'd get caught. Although, if he could do food poisoning…

'_No more evil thoughts.'_ He told himself firmly. It was fun, but occasionally worrying, the thoughts that crept into his head.

His mind wandered to some advice Moody had given him last Christmas.

"_An Auror uses every advantage, Potter. You need to be swift and cool. Keep your body in top condition."_

Idly, Harry wondered how Moody could tell him to keep his body in top condition without being a hypocrite, but the man was old, and used the wooden leg to freak others out as much as anything else. He could quite easily get a magical version that practised the same way as a real leg.

All the same, it was this advice he took now. Getting up from his bed, he settled himself on the floor, clearing space. Resting his weight on his arms and feet, hands shoulder-width apart on the floor, legs out-stretched, he began to do press-ups.

He didn't see the light of crimson eyes watching through the window with a satisfied gleam.

XXXXX

_13th July 2003:_

Practising the stretch again, Harry concluded that he had done enough physical exertion for the day. Even though his main exercises were simple ones – press-ups, sit-ups, jumps, pull-ups (he was permitted one hour outside Privet Drive a day where he practised in the park on the bars), running and other similar things – they still did him good. He ached afterwards, but if it meant a night he could sleep through, he was quite happy to continue.

He had received the books he wanted soon after giving Tonks the letter. She'd added one or two she thought he'd find interesting – a book on defending against Dark Magic only Aurors were permitted to purchase (it contained descriptions so they knew what they were fighting against) and a book called _Professor Virilus' Guide for Young Wizards_. She informed him that the Weasley twins had recommended it as a good buy for those wanting 'to understand the changes a pubescent wizard goes through and how to handle them, and other situations'. After a few cursory glances, he concluded that the book mainly discussed dealing with the opposite sex and appropriate charms and potions to use. However, it did have some good advice, and a couple of chapters on changing magics. It also seemed to have something of a mind of it's own.

He settled down to read _Clearing the Mind: A Beginner's Guide to Mind Magics_. It wasn't a step-by-step guide to Occlumency, more along the lines of discovering and ordering one's mind so that he'd be able to later utilise magics like Occlumency effectively. It also suggested that powers such as telekinesis, telepathy, empathy, teleportation, mind-shielding, memory-manipulation and wandless magic could be discovered by a correct ordering of one's mind. Some had such powers and were incapable of discovering them because they could not find them in a disorganised mind.

So Harry was working to organise his own. He had started with some of the basic meditation techniques where he focussed on identifying his mind and clearing away outside interference. His next step would be to erect some sort of structure to protect his mind, before organising it. He couldn't afford to leave his mind unprotected for long.

After a great deal of thinking, Harry based his mind's structure on Hogwarts. Storing every memory, every piece of himself inside the structure, he built the castle, brick by brick, then mirrored the wards around it. He was doing this repeatedly each day, until such a time as the structure stayed there, completely. Only then could he move onto the next level of organising his thoughts.

His wards he had fuelled with varying emotions. He had realised that it was his love for Sirius that had forced Voldemort out of his mind in the Ministry. Therefore, it was only fitting that his most powerful shield was based on love. Something like a Patronus mixed with a shield charm, Harry had used the memory of all those who had loved him to fuel it. There were other wards, ones based on Anti-Apparition and Anti-portkey wards, and even one or two traps fuelled by a certain amount of vindictiveness. He could only hope Snape attempted to get into his mind. It would be fun to flip a switch and trap him.

Harry's Hogwarts had also had exceptionally thick stone walls, with reinforced, magical wooden gates – holly, the tree of his birth-month and his wand, good for conducting magic. Furthermore, the gates only opened with his handprint and retina-scan. A line of switches sat by it – he'd have to turn each one off in turn to allow anyone through.

He hoped it would work against Voldemort the next time he attacked him.

He was determined that he would not be fooled again. His dreams would not lead anyone into danger a second time.

He would not let someone else he loved die.

Sirius' death had taken a dreadful toll on him, but he was slowly coming to terms with it. His talk with Luna at the end of the year had helped, and with time, he was able to focus on the good things as much as the bad.

And then there was Sirius himself.

Harry had been able to sense in Sirius unhappiness that had not been quelled by meeting him. Something made Sirius unhappy down to his core, and even his freedom wasn't helping him get over it. Harry had always wondered what it was that made Sirius' eyes go dull when he looked at the students. It could be something so simple. Hermione's smug look as she corrected someone, Harry's sarcastic comments, Ron's Quidditch mania or Ginny's laughter. Even something as simple as Molly's comment that the twins 'could burn a salad' was enough to bring that dull look to his eyes.

Harry had never told anyone about the time he'd seen Sirius and Remus before the fire in the drawing room one night. Sirius was drinking – not a good thing by any psychologist's report – and his face had been contorted in anger.

"Where is she, Moony?" He had said, his voice cracked and broken. "Why did she leave?"

Remus had been quiet in his response. "I don't know, Sirius. I've kept my ears and eyes open for anything – everything – that could give me a clue. I don't know where she is. I've barely had contact with Alura and Damion."

Sirius, rather than get angry, had tears streaming down his face. "She knew, Moony, she knew. How is this better?"

"Harry had a chance to grow up." Remus had replied, but his face was dark.

"If I find her again, how can I ever forgive her for leaving? For taking _her_ with her?" Sirius asked. "I lost my reason when she disappeared."

"Let's just hope it was for the best." Remus stated. "She said she'd return."

Sirius nodded. "She promised she'd change it. She promised."

It had been a long time since Harry had thought about that night and that conversation. He had never admitted to Sirius that he had overheard. He didn't know what to think? Who was she? Sirius' girlfriend? Lover? _Wife_? He had wondered about Sirius over the past year, wondered if he had been married, had a child. It seemed unlikely – after all, wouldn't _she_ have been his godmother and taken him in?

Besides, what was this other factor? 'Change it'? 'She knew'? What had she known? What was she supposed to change? Who was she? And who was the other 'her' Sirius had referred to? Harry didn't know.

He thought of Sirius and sighed. It was for Sirius he would beat Voldemort. It was for Sirius he would be strong. It was for Sirius he would fulfil prophecy in his favour.

The prophecy. That was what he was doing his training and reading for. That was what he had to fulfil.

And he would.

No more would die for him.

XXXXX

"There's news." Remus Lupin entered the office of Albus Dumbledore.

"What news?"

"The symbol of Fire Star has appeared once more." He explained.

"Where?"

"Australia. Apparently, there were a group of foreign Death Eaters indulging in some Muggle torture. They are now in Azkaban, but none of them look too good."

"What happened?"

"No one knows. It appears that the Muggles were being tortured, a whole family, while others were held prisoner. Before the Muggles had their memories modified, they spoke of a woman bathed in crimson light, with wings, shooting fire from her hands. They also said that none were killed, maybe burned, harmed, but none killed. They were all left unconscious, with extremely strong spells around them, ones to prevent Apparation, Animagus transformation, and any sort of escape. Best of all, they were British ones, learned by Aurors in the 1980s." Remus sighed, collapsing into a chair.

"So she has revealed herself."

"Do you think she knows of his death?"

"Of course she does. They are soulmates, and the curse… I can't help feeling that the Curse of Kali may be broken soon."

"Really?"

"I hope so. Why do you think she has revealed herself so publicly?"

"I don't know. But she always said that after Harry's fifth-year…"

"She would change that future. I wonder how?"

"I don't know. I do know that the crimson pentacle was, once again, repelling the Dark Mark. Also, one of the Muggles gave her only words."

"They were?"

"'The Moon and the Army Commander shall meet and at sixteen, their magic shall truly reveal itself.'"

"Anything else?"

"Yes, but to the Death Eaters. She said what she has always said."

A pause.

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"She said…"

"'A pentacle may repel you. The lightning bolt shall destroy you.'" Remus nodded. "She says it to anyone who bears the Dark Mark, not to mention Voldemort himself. She must be talking about Voldemort's habits of leaving scars on those left alive."

"She is the pentacle. She has always managed to repel Voldemort when he has attacked her. The lightning bolt must refer to Harry. She has always known of his fate." Dumbledore mused.

"Harry's… fate?"

"Did I not tell you? I should have. Remus, Harry is the only one with the power to destroy Voldemort. And ultimately, they must meet in battle. Sybill Trelawney gave the prediction. One of her few genuine ones. She gave Harry another the afternoon before you discovered Peter two years ago. Unfortunately, neither Harry nor Voldemort can live while the other survives. That is why Voldemort tried to kill Harry as a child. And that marked him as his equal."

"Wait a minute! Harry… and Selene. They are nearing their sixteenth birthdays, aren't they?"

"Yes. Just as their parents did, they shall gain control of their other magic. The Heirs of the Elemental Guardians."

"The Moon and the Army Commander." Remus frowned. "I didn't know that's what 'Harry' meant."

"Harry was named for his grandfather, Harold. His parents shortened it, but it is from that stem. Selene, of course, means the Moon and always has done."

"What does this all mean?" Remus wanted to know.

"It means that Kathryn Black is still alive. And she's starting to make this future a better place."

"I hope so."

XXXXX

It was ten o'clock at night when Harry heard the bell ring. Frowning, he wondered who could be visiting so late in the day. It wasn't a Death Eater; the wards prevented Death Eaters getting in, and they wouldn't know a doorbell from a telephone when confronted with one.

Quietly, he padded out onto the landing, and, using a new Weasley invention they had sent called an Extendable Eye (they were attempting to make a series, but they seemed more suited as spying tools than pranks), he spied on the door as Vernon, huffily, plodded over to open it, complaining about the late hour.

When Vernon opened it, he prepared to see a salesman, or something similar. He was not prepared for the blonde woman there to smirk.

"Hi Vernon." She stated, her voice faint and musical.

Harry moved the Eye, but he could not see her past Vernon's bulk.

Neither Harry nor Vernon were prepared for the fist that came Vernon's way and sent him thudding onto the floor.

The woman smirked again. "I thought it was time I repaid the favour."

Vernon's face began turning several different colours all at once before settling on it's beloved purple.

"You… You… You…"

"Me what? You planning on getting that sentence out any time soon?" She asked, her voice snarky. Harry suppressed a grin. Whoever she was, he didn't sense any danger, and he couldn't help but appreciate her humour.

"You're one of _them_, aren't you?" He snarled.

"Which 'them' are we talking about?" She asked, closing the door. "'Them' wizards and witches, 'them' Order people, or 'them' Death Eaters?"

"Death Eaters." Vernon snarled, his eyes angry.

Harry knew at once that that had been about the stupidest thing Vernon could say.

"Oh yes, I did seem like a Death Eater that week I stayed at Lily's, didn't I?" The woman growled.

"You!" Petunia shrieked, having come to see what the commotion was.

"Good evening, Petunia. Your husband seems to think I'm allied with the people who killed your sister."

Petunia's expression darkened. "You…"

"I will also tell you that the same people left me in a coma for five years, killed my parents, betrayed and killed my best friends, your sister and brother-in-law, left one of my best friends a werewolf, driven to insanity to the point where she, like my brother, is in the ward she used to work on, and drove two of my colleagues and friends insane. That's not to mention the fact that I've been on the run for fifteen years with two children, my husband's life was destroyed by them and he's also now dead, and both my godsons have been permanently scarred by it." The woman's voice was bitter and savage.

Harry felt a stab of fear and pity. For though this woman only looked about twenty-five, it was clear she had lived through the first war with Voldemort. To have lost so many people… Then it clicked. She had known his parents, been best friends with them!

This revelation instantly begged the question: who was she?

The woman stood like a warrior, a tiger preparing to pounce and savage it's prey. She was nothing like anything else that had been on Privet Drive. While she could only be a few years younger than Petunia, she dressed like she genuinely was in her twenties, not approaching her fortieth birthday. Black, low-slung jeans, heeled black boots, a sleeveless crimson blouse and long black leather coat – surprising, really, considering that it was still very warm.

"So," the woman challenged, "do you think I'm a Death Eater?"

Petunia gave a sharp, shrill laugh. "Of course you're not a Death Eater! Oh, you were so dedicated to _stopping_ evil wizards, Orenda, but did you stop your pranks on us poor Muggles?"

Harry rolled his eyes. Only Petunia would see a few harmless pranks as 'evil'.

The woman – Orenda? – obviously felt the same way.

"Dear God, Petunia, if you'd kept your hands off mine and Lily's stuff, you wouldn't have suffered a prank. Besides, the itching powder was perfectly Muggle. I mean, I hexed my things as a matter of course. Alura got so mad this one time after she borrowed my shampoo…"

Perhaps because Harry had been thinking about it before, but the name Alura was familiar. Hadn't Remus mentioned it to Sirius?

"What do you _want_?" Petunia finally snapped.

"Harry, but he's not mine to have. _That_ privilege shall go to the people who have been unable to rest peacefully." The woman responded ambiguously. "No, Petunia, all I want is the box."

"That box you left a few days after the _brat_ was dumped here?" Petunia asked.

"Of course." The woman made a show of examining her nails.

Harry was astounded. What did she mean, she wanted him? That he wasn't hers to have? Who else could he belong to? How could he belong to her? He frowned. Idly, he wondered if she was his godmother. Could she be? He dismissed it. Surely she would have come for him earlier than this!

"It's in the living room." Petunia growled.

"Why, Petunia, you put it on display! I'm flattered!" Orenda stated with over happiness, clapping her hands together playfully. "Not that I'm surprised. It is a beautiful box. But then magic can sometimes create beauteous things."

Petunia looked scandalised. "It's magical?"

"Not the box in of itself. Has magic inside – very powerful. But I won't describe it. I would not want prying ears to hear, and you wouldn't understand it anyway."

Petunia's eyes narrowed. "Why didn't the boy's guard stop you?"

The woman snatched the box from Petunia, her hands roaming over it as if to check it for damage. "Oh, you mean Nymphadora outside?" She had a mischievous smile. "She didn't see me."

"What?"

"I'm exceptionally skilled at self-transfiguration, illusions and glamours. I could stage a Death Eater coup, and not one of those wizards could tell the difference from the real thing. So, stopping her from seeing anything amiss? Piece of cake." The woman smiled savagely, showing a number of white teeth.

Harry stored this information for later use. More areas of magic.

"Self-transfiguration?" Vernon snorted. "What is this nonsense?"

The woman gave a smirk. "I wonder if your son has ever watched _Charmed_. It's about three sister witches – following a different code, of course. You may have heard of Wicca?"

Petunia snorted. "That nonsense with gods and goddesses and dancing around fires naked on Hallowe'en?"

She nodded. "Something like that. I daresay my husband would have been thrilled to institute a ceremony where we danced around a fire naked. However… many of the people who gather at Stonehenge on the Midsummer Solstice practise Wicca. It's based on the pagan or druidic religion of the Celts. I daresay that druids still exist, somewhere, maybe even in my society.

"In any case, on that particular TV programme, there are evil warlocks and demons with a power known as shape-shifting." She pursed her lips. "Actually, there are good people with that ability as well. In any case, they can change their form. Their face, their body, anything. They can change into wolves, bats, and other such wonderful things. My form of self-transfiguration is just that, considering I don't even need a wand." She gave a feral grin.

"What would a _witch_ be doing watching a _Muggle_ television programme?" Petunia sniffed, haughtily.

"My daughter's a fan." She smirked. "Actually, my son is too, but I think he's more interested in the girls' assets than the magic. I quite like it myself. Besides, I spent sixteen years in this time as a Muggle, I should."

"What?"

"Nothing you need to know about, Petunia." The woman sighed. "Suffice to say, I'm powerful. And think about your nephew. You recall he inflated your sister-in-law?"

Petunia shuddered.

"That was 'accidental' magic. Harry is approaching his sixteenth birthday. And with his parentage, he should be powerful indeed. He may even find himself able to perform magic wandlessly and _controllably_. Do you really want to piss off a teenage wizard with the world on his shoulders? You've seen your sister's eyes bore into you, Petunia, what do you imagine Harry's will be like if he had Muggle laser surgery to correct his myopia?"

Harry was startled. How the hell did this woman know all this?

Petunia gave a visible shudder.

"Harry will be out of here in a few days, Petunia. Try and be nice to him until then. Maybe let him watch _Charmed_ with your son." The woman smirked.

"Very well, Orenda. I'll put up with him." Petunia suddenly looked at Vernon, who was still prone on the floor, looking fearful. "What have you done to Vernon!"

"Oh, I just punched him. Figured I get him back for the time he got me." Orenda shrugged.

"Vernon would never hurt anyone!"

"Yeah, about that. The only reason Harry wasn't _dead_ before Hogwarts is because of a spell I placed on him. Every abusive blow he dishes out? Revisited upon him. So, as you can see, he isn't inclined to hurt anyone. Actually, I'd better renew the spell. It wore off about three years ago." She commented. "_Maledicens repercuti_!" A flash of black light hit Vernon from her wand, sinking into his skin.

"What did you do!" Petunia shrieked.

"Reapplied the spell. Don't worry, Petunia, it only hurts him when he hurts others." The woman snarled, her eyes narrow.

"You…"

"Now, now, Petunia, don't want the whole neighbourhood to hear you swear, now, do we?" The woman smirked. "Now, I have to go. I have things to do. People to help, lives to put back together and godsons to apologise to. Hopefully they can wait a little while until I have their apology there. A little gift that they lost many years ago."

"Orenda, you…"

"Oh, and it's not Orenda anymore, Petunia. I'm married. You may remember my husband." She gave a smirk.

Harry didn't know what she whispered to Petunia, but the blood drained from the woman's face.

"Him, you…"

"Yep. Same day as Lils and Prongs. But then you didn't even attend your own sister's wedding." Her eyes darkened. She turned on her heel, and yanked open the door.

"Think about this, Petunia. If your nephew doesn't stop this evil, it will destroy the entire Muggle world. Do you want to be known as the woman who cruelly neglected our saviour?"

Then the woman seemed to fade from view and the door closed.

Petunia was just stood there, staring, gasping. Vernon was looking strangely dazed. And Harry…

Harry put the Extendable Eye away, remembering to send a note about its effectiveness to the Weasleys. Who was that woman? What had the box contained? Who was her husband?

And as he wrote a letter to the Order reporting the incident, he couldn't help but wonder what _Charmed_ was as well.

XXXXX

_14th July 2003:_

"Lupin, you'll want to read this." Moody informed the werewolf gruffly as he entered the hall.

Ginny, on the stairs, ducked out of sight, hoping to catch some information.

"It's just Harry's letter." Remus frowned, wondering what was so important.

"Read it, Lupin. It seems Potter had a visitor last night."

Ginny watched as Remus' expression became a frown, amusement, wonder, before settling on confusion.

"A box? Wait a minute, _the_ box? The one that they used…"

"Looks like it."

"Why on Earth would she leave that with Harry and Petunia?"

"Perfect sense, really. No one would think she'd leave something so important with the most _obvious_ person there is. She could have kept it. But I suspect it provided some sort of protection for Potter that's going to become void soon."

"His birthday." Remus breathed. He looked back at the letter. "She told Petunia about all this. Merlin, did she know Harry was listening?"

"It's possible. She wasn't the kind of person to make a slip like that."

"Yes, but it's equally possible that she wants to be mysterious and dramatic. Which explains the quick changes of topic when she began speaking too in-depth. And what's this about apologies to godsons?"

"Potter and Longbottom. But I don't understand what 'gifts' she could give that would make adequate apologies. Or why it should take so long." Moody frowned.

Remus shook his head. "What lives is she putting back together? How? That's what I'm worried about."

"Well, Fire Star reappeared in Australia forty-eight hours ago. It makes sense she'd come back here. At least we know her daughter's safe with her." Moody looked almost wistful. "Tiny little thing she was. I saw her a few days after she was born."

Remus chuckled. "I know. They've still got the photo of you, Harold and Olden in the Headquarters. Tonks told me."

Moody growled.

Remus frowned again. "What I don't understand is the son. How on Earth has she got a son? And a teenager too, from the suggestion."

"She'd never betray him." Moody frowned. "Unless…"

"She was pregnant at the time. She might not even have known." Remus shook his head. "It's a wonder the stress didn't make her miscarry."

"Powerful magic from both families. Protect the unborn from the moment of conception." Moody nodded.

Ginny frowned. Who on Earth were they talking about?

"There's only one Orenda we know who has two godsons and had to change her name." Remus sighed.

"Orenda?" Another voice spoke. "The girl who saved my life and then Molly and Ron's?"

Ginny's eyes widened. Her dad knew this mystery woman as well?

"The same. Seems Harry's had a visit from her."

"Isn't she Bl–?" Arthur began.

"Hush!" Remus cried. "Don't say the surname. The bitch on the wall's sensitive enough to it as it is."

Arthur nodded. "Kathryn? Who saved my Molly's life and then got yelled at by Olden for fighting whilst pregnant?"

Remus nodded. "God, but he was nothing compared to her husband. James and I spent ages coaching and scolding him. He had been so worried and furious with her."

Arthur nodded. "When they attacked, I was surprised Molly didn't go into early labour."

"Of course, it all went out the window when he got back. He just sat and held her. I'm surprised they didn't end up shagging."

Moody winced. "Remus, the girl was practically my niece!"

"Yes, you adopted her and Lily, didn't you?" Remus grinned. "Even gave Lily away… You should have told Harry that. He hungers for anything about his parents. Last time I spoke to him before Sirius' death… God, he'd just seen after the DADA OWL in fifth-year. He didn't understand anything about it – how his father was such a git, why his mum hated him so much. Of course, Kat was still in her coma then. Woke up about a month later." He gave a smirk. "First thing she did, apparently, was flirt with Sirius. James was sure she hadn't recovered properly."

Ginny started at this. A woman and Sirius? Moody gave Lily away?

"You know, I think Harry could do with a laugh." Tonks stated, coming into the conversation. "I say we show him the photo of Moody, his grandfather and Mr Orenda holding him, Neville and Lenie. Or the one just with Moody holding him. I never saw him so shell-shocked."

"Tonks, you want to keep your limbs in the right places?" Moody asked.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't see her last night, but says in the letter. Illusions. She used to babysit me. She was bloody well powerful, and we'd play changing."

"Play changing?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, she could shape-shift. So she'd help me learn to control my gift by making it a game. We'd both change the same thing." Tonks shrugged. "And when Lenie was born, I remember demanding seeing the 'pwetty baby'. Of course, I _know_ I could pronounce Rs when I was seven, but Mum said I couldn't. Our game helped her get over her parents' death."

Moody nodded. "She nearly broke after that. She was the one who found them. And of course, Magic's Haven disappeared. Actually, that was around the time Caradoc Dearborn disappeared as well…"

"So, what are we going to do?" Remus brought the conversation back on track.

"Have a look out for her. I'll alert those we can trust in the Ministry. Kingsley'll want to know as well. He worshipped the lot of them, for all he was only training for a couple of months before the shit hit the fan." Moody growled.

Tonks nodded. "He followed their careers while he was in school. Knew Paul as well."

"Where _is_ Orenda?"

Ginny felt more confident now. After the shocking revelations, it was comforting to hear them talk about her eldest brother's best friend.

She skipped down the stairs at that point, pretending to have only heard the last sentence. "Paul had to go. He got a call from his sister." She explained truthfully.

They stiffened, thus proving her case that this Kathryn was Paul's sister too.

"Which one?"

"Adalia, I think. He mentioned her getting married." Ginny gave a smile. "It's nice, that people can still find happiness."

"Yes, yes." Moody said distractedly.

"Who's she marrying?" Tonks asked.

Ginny shrugged. "He didn't say. Just rushed out of here like hellhounds were chasing him. I don't know if he wanted to congratulate her or punch her fiancé."

Arthur chuckled. "If he wants to get the fiancé, he has twin brothers to help."

Remus gave a growl. "He should have another one."

Moody shot the werewolf a look.

"Okay, then. So, what's for dinner?" Arthur asked.

XXXXX

_16th July 2003:_

Harry was doing press-ups when his door opened. Instantly he rolled over, pulling his wand out to cover the intruders.

Tonks whistled appreciatively. "Nice reflexes."

Moody nodded. "Good to see you're taking my advice and exercising, Potter."

Harry shrugged. "It keeps me occupied, and I'm tired enough to sleep properly." Standing up, he pulled a shirt over his t-shirt. "So, what's the occasion?"

"We've had a tip-off about a problem with the blood wards and Voldemort looking for a way through." Remus explained. "We're taking you to Headquarters."

Harry nodded. The idea of going to Sirius' house without Sirius in it was painful, but he pushed it down.

"Moony, what do I hear when I get close to a Dementor?" Harry asked, remembering to check.

Remus paled, but answered. "Your parents' death."

Harry nodded, and looked at Tonks. "Why did Moody tell me not to keep my wand in my back pocket last year and how did you respond?"

Tonks grinned. "He said you could lose a buttock and I asked if he knew anyone who'd lost one."

Harry looked at Moody last. "What did you ask for when you arrived last year and why?"

"A glass of water to clean my eye." Moody nodded. "Good, Potter, good to see you're learning. Pack up the rest of your stuff, we're leaving."

Shoving things surprisingly haphazardly into his trunk, Harry turned around a moment later. "I'll let Hedwig fly in. I'm done."

Remus' surprise must have shown on his face, because Harry grinned and replied, "I enlarged my trunk's inside before I left. Lucky, considering the books I have in there."

"Enjoy the Weasleys' suggestion Harry?" Tonks asked slyly.

"Very much so." Harry grinned wickedly.

Tonks nodded. "It's him."

Moody glared at her. "Asking only one question? What was the name of the woman who visited a couple of nights ago, Potter?"

"Orenda, I think. Moody, who was…"

"Not now, Potter." Moody stated. "Grab your things, and hold onto this."

It was an old-fashioned key ring. Harry put a hand on it.

With an "Order of the Char-grilled Chicken" from Remus, the portkey activated.

Harry felt a jerk behind his navel and was travelling to Grimmauld Place.

XXXXX

A/N:

Well, what do you think?

Not many cookies go out to people – only a few got that the thud was Vernon hitting the ground (as well as being hit). Anyone who gets where Kat's greeting is from (it's a bit easier now) gets one of the chocolate cakes I baked on Wednesday (real and virtual).

Anyone guess how much I like _Charmed_?

Anyway, my sister demanded I put this up. I'm going to try and keep the updates to at least one per month, and try and get plenty pre-written – I'm in my final A-level year, so I don't have as much time as I'd like, and I spend too much time on fanfiction anyway! (At least according to my parents.) I'm also trying to re-write my novel, and I'm only starting Chapter 9 of 19, plus epilogue, and I started in January.

Anyway, tell me what you think!

And the films _Domino_ and _Nanny MacPhee_ (yes, childish I know, but a good kids' film) are great.

Lol, Tanydwr


	2. Chapter 2: Strange Discoveries

Okay, one of my friends poked me into submission to post this up. So I don't want to end up on her bad side.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 2: Strange Discoveries**

_16th July 2003:_

Harry landed in Grimmauld Place with an incredulous look at Remus.

"Order of the Char-grilled Chicken? Did you let the twins decide on the password?" He asked with a laugh.

"I believe Dumbledore thought their nickname for the Order was amusing." Remus commented dryly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "He would."

"Harry!" Several voices cried in happiness.

Harry found himself falling to the floor once more with his arms filled with a female redhead.

"Nice to see you too, Ginny." He replied as she hugged him firmly and then stood up from her tackle.

"Hi Harry." She grinned mischievously.

Feeling equally mischievous and somewhat evil (again, he thought his Marauder side was coming through), he struck a dramatic pose as he stood. "Thank the Fates I have seen thee! Thy face is balm to my wounds in knowing that thou art safe, whilst I languished in cursed captivity!"

Remus laughed. "You sound like Sirius and James after they'd been on the Firewhiskey."

Harry gave him a grin. A remark like that was surprisingly soothing, despite everyone else's silent worry.

"It'll be interesting to see what I'm like on Firewhiskey if I sound like this sober, then, won't it?"

Remus laughed and ruffled his hair. "That it will, cub."

Ginny now looked at Harry, a brow arched, though slight colour staining her cheeks. "What wounds are my face 'balming' then?"

"Do you really want to know?" Harry gave her an extremely wicked grin.

Secretly delighted by the fact Harry was teasing her (and rather risqué teasing at that), Ginny shook her head magnificently. "I suppose not."

Harry's face fell comically. "Aww, shucks!"

"Harry Potter, are you flirting with my sister?" Ron Weasley demanded.

"And if I was?" Harry asked, raising a brow.

"Have you any idea how intimidating it is to be given 'hurt her and I break your neck' by five or six older brothers?" Ron asked him.

"Nope, but I think I'd be more scared of Ginny, _if_ I was flirting with her, and _if_ I hurt her." Harry smirked. "Besides, I was under the impression she'd 'chosen' Dean." He gave Ginny a wink.

Ron rolled his eyes. "I _know_ Ginny only said that to rile me up."

"Bummer."

"Exactly."

Harry grinned as he and Ron exchanged swift 'manly' hugs.

"So, you here to stay?"

"Looks like it." Harry gave a sigh. "Out of the Dursleys in less than three weeks. How shall I cope?"

"Party?" Ron suggested.

"Sounds good." Harry grinned, and looked at the other 'student'. "Hey, Neville."

"Hi Harry." Neville gave him a smile. "Apparently I'm now under suspicion from Voldemort."

Harry nodded. "Well, you've finally shown us the real Neville Longbottom, haven't you? Swift with a wand, and casting spells with a broken nose!" Harry gave a grand wave, pleased to hear Neville laugh. Clearly, the boy had gained a lot of confidence.

"We took my dad's wand to Ollivander. He's fixing it up for us, but said the wand wasn't compatible with me. From the looks of things, that's part of the problem I had."

Harry nodded. "I thought it might be. Have you got a new one?"

Neville nodded, brandishing a long, finely polished wand of pale wood. "Apple and hippocampus hair, twelve and a half inches. Ollivander rarely uses it, but this wand's only a few years old. He made some ambiguous comment about the animal balancing the water in me, and the apple suiting my love for growing things."

Harry nodded. "Well, I don't know about water, but apple… That's a very unusual wood, Neville, but extremely good. I bet it smells nice."

Neville rolled his eyes. "It would, the polish is apple-scented."

"See!"

"Neville's working with Mum to order the greenhouse." Ginny explained. "I swear, it's like he can talk to plants!"

"This place has a greenhouse?" Harry asked.

"Yep. Took us ages to find it. There's a garden too, but Merlin only knows what the Blacks have roaming around in that." Ron shuddered.

Harry could see the scars on his friend's arms. They were pink and glossy, still healing.

"How are you?" He asked, gesturing to the scars.

"I'm fine. I have some weird memories at times – I cast a spell I didn't even _know_ this morning – but I'm fine otherwise. It's not like I go into trances or something." Ron shrugged. "We're all fine, Harry. I swear."

Harry nodded. "It's just hard, y'know? I led you into that danger, I was supposed to be leading you responsibly, and instead I got you all injured, Sirius killed and half the Department of Mysteries is destroyed."

"Don't worry about that, Harry." Tonks informed him. "It gave them a wake-up call if kids could get in…"

Moody shook his head. "The Death Eaters managed to by-pass the security systems with the information they had from Rookwood. Why they didn't change them _after_ discovering he was a spy, I don't know…"

"What were they?" Harry asked.

"Vocal recognition and retinal scans." Moody informed her. "One of my Aurors was part-Unspeakable because of her Sight and suggested them."

Harry looked surprised. "That's really advanced…"

"She had seen a lot of the future. Adapted the ideas of future Muggle technology to be used as magical technology." Moody explained.

"Sight?" Ron asked. "Genuinely?"

"Yes, she had extremely reliable Sight. However, she could not control them. Sometimes they'd come when she needed them, other times they would not. There were also issues of whether she was to prevent the vision or preserve it."

"Why?"

Moody sighed. "The Sight is tricky. Her family line has had it for centuries – some claimed she had the blood of Pythea. Despite this, the line it came from was her Muggle-born mother's – first-born daughter every time. Some visions she was sent in order to preserve them – she knew something of this future and it pained her to preserve it, since she knew Voldemort had to be defeated for thirteen years, though she would not answer why. Others she had to prevent. Arthur Weasley's death many years ago was one thing she stopped from happening. Molly and Ron's death the same."

Ginny's ears perked up at this. Moody was referring to the woman who visited Harry!

Ron frowned. "I don't remember any woman saving my life."

"I was pregnant with you at the time." Mrs Weasley stated absently as she walked in. "She was pregnant herself. Her father cried blue murder at her when he arrived. She was past three months. Still, she saved my life and the life of my children."

"And mine, considering I wasn't even thought about yet." Ginny gave a smirk.

"You too." Molly sighed. "Lovely girl, Kathryn."

"Where is she now?" Harry asked.

The adults exchanged dark looks.

"She disappeared about the time your parents were killed." Moody stated.

Harry looked at him blankly.

Molly took charge. She walked over and hugged Harry firmly. "Welcome back, Harry. Ron, Neville, why don't you help Harry with his trunk upstairs?"

Ron grinned and levitated the trunk. Harry gasped in shock.

"What?"

"Magic can't be traced in here. That's Fidelius Charm and the Black family's magic on it anyway." Ron grinned.

Harry nodded, smiling. "It's great to see everyone, but I'll go and unpack." He followed Ron and Neville out of the kitchen and gasped in shock.

Ginny grinned. "Different, isn't it? They moved the kitchen upstairs and converted the basement into a training room. According to Remus, it's so Sirius didn't go stir-crazy." She looked sober. "He also managed to get a lot more cleaning and redecorating done after Christmas. Wanted this place to actually look like the Headquarters of an organisation fighting for good."

Harry nodded, taking in the cream walls and dark, handsome wood panelling. He noted the curtains still covering the portrait, but at least they were much cleaner and a glorious Gryffindor red. The elf heads were, mercifully, gone. Mrs Black appeared to be residing behind much thicker, more attractive curtains that, if Harry wasn't mistaken, were sewn together.

"Looks good." Harry approved. "Are we in the same room?" He asked Ron.

"Yep, and even that's been redecorated. Neville's in there with us, because Mrs Longbottom's working for the Order." Ron stated.

"Great. It'll be like being at Hogwarts, minus Seamus and Dean." Harry grinned.

"So no dirty magazines on the floor." Neville commented dryly. "That'll be a change."

Ginny choked and began spluttering.

The boys laughed, and Harry felt like he was genuinely 'home'.

XXXXX

_Later that day:_

"So the woman I saw is Kathryn Orenda?" Harry asked.

Ginny nodded. "We can make a list of what we know if you like. Her younger brother's in the Order. That's Paul. He's one of Bill's best friends, another curse-breaker. He's got twin older brothers who're also curse-breakers. Mum blames them for putting the idea in Paul and Bill's heads." She gave a grin, then frowned. "Remus said something that suggested there's another brother…"

Neville nodded. "Janyd, or Jack, Orenda. He's in the same ward – and condition – as my parents. Been like that since about a year before I was born."

The others looked sober. Neville's parents were in the closed ward at St Mungo's Hospital, their minds destroyed by Cruciatus.

"And the godsons she referred to." Ginny stated. "They're you and Neville, Harry."

The two boys looked startled.

"I thought only Sirius…" Harry frowned.

"Gran's always said my godmother died when I was small. I just have Uncle Algie." Neville groaned, thinking of the man who had spent so much time trying to 'scare' some magic out of him.

Ron frowned. "So this woman is Harry's godmother – and Neville's – knew Lily Potter, knew Moody, is possibly an Auror, babysat Tonks, was in a coma for an uncertain amount of time, has the Sight, flirted with Sirius, had her name changed through marriage, saved _both_ my parents and me…" His mind was going into overdrive. "Not to mention a skill with illusions and something similar to a Metamorphmagus ability."

Harry nodded. "Definitely suspicious. If she's my godmother, why didn't she come sooner?"

Ginny's eyes lit up. "Harry, remember what Moody said. About her visions? Maybe she was forced to preserve this future and she saw it without her in it."

"Yes, but why preserve it? Why did I have to grow up without parents?"

"Thirteen years of peace whilst Voldemort is incorporeal." Ron stated, his voice slightly odd. "She preserved Voldemort's defeat. Gave us a chance to grow up."

Harry's eyes widened. "The prophecy." He whispered barely.

"What?" Ginny's head shot round to look at him.

Harry gave a sigh. "You've read the _Daily Prophet_, right? All the nonsense about a prophecy involving me and Voldemort?"

Ron nodded. "We knew that – we saw the names." He pointed out.

"They're calling me the 'Chosen One'." Harry sighed. "And in a way I am. However, I'm not sure how safe it is to reveal the truth about it to you."

"Does it say you have to fight V – V – Tom?" Ginny asked.

Harry, surprised, gave a nod.

"Then the whole world knows!" She cried. "That's what the stories are saying."

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'."

"They're right. The prophecy… named me as Voldemort's 'equal'. Or rather," he narrowed his eyes in a calculating look, "Voldemort believed I was the threat and thus fulfilled the prophecy to mark me as equal. The gist of it is that I have to kill him before he kills me."

Ron shrugged. "Not much different to what I expected then." He stretched out his long arms. "Always knew it would come down to you and him."

Harry looked surprised, but didn't respond. He just sighed, leaning back on the bed.

XXXXX

_17th July 2003:_

Harry was in Sirius' room. Buckbeak had been returned to Hagrid – rechristened 'Witherwings' – but the Ministry was in such uproar that no one would identify him as the hippogriff they once sentenced to death. After all, with Fudge kicked out and a new Minister to be selected in a few days…

Leaflets had been sent to everyone. They outlined various 'protective' strategies. Passwords, questions, and other such things were advised. Some of the 'protections' Harry found – quite frankly – useless.

Lupin had suggested that Harry take the time to look through Sirius' things, and maybe tidy his room. The subject of his will _had_ been breached, but it seemed that without a body, nothing could be done. Harry had taken the opportunity to ask about his parents' will or wills. Lupin had frowned, stating that the estate had been frozen until Harry's seventeenth birthday, but for the vault he was using. This had startled Harry, who had thought the small fortune in his vault was it – and there was more than enough of that. He didn't need nor want more wealth.

Currently, Harry was placing items in boxes – each was labelled. None of the items looked extremely personal, and all seemed to be from the time since Sirius escaped. Why was nothing older included?

The boy sighed, and tugged a sheaf of papers out of the bottom of Sirius' wardrobe. Most appeared to be spell notes, or even just Sirius' thoughts scribed on paper. Harry separated these out. However, the last few were sheets of music. Song music.

Harry's heart leapt. A secret desire, a secret passion, the one thing his aunt and uncle had never seen fit to take from him.

Music.

Vernon had said it was for 'nancy-boys', and Petunia had just looked down her nose. Neither cared that Harry stayed after school later, talking to the music teacher, learning from her.

In fact, two of the songs had his name scrawled across the top.

_The Impossible Dream_ and _Close Every Door_ both had Harry's name written at the top of the first page, the former with _'he'll like this'_ written beside it, the latter with _'Very appropriate'_ as the comment.

Silently, Harry wondered if the house had a piano.

XXXXX

_Later that day:_

One of the few things Molly Weasley appreciated about her husband's fondness for all things Muggle was his collection of music. While he owned some 'CDs' and 'tapes' that he had charmed to play similarly to magical albums, he had a whole cupboard full of sheet music and music books.

There were two simple reasons for Molly's love of music. One was her family's traditions and her own singing voice. The second was the fact that on one of their 'dates' when Charlie and Bill were about five and seven, Arthur had taken her to Jamatic Alley – the artist and theatre street of the wizarding world – to see a Muggle musical. It had been called _Les Misérables_, and she had instantly fallen in love with the entire genre.

She was humming _Any Dream Will Do_, from one of her children's favourites, when she heard something odd from the drawing room.

The room had been cleared thoroughly by this point. All of them had been startled by the revelation of the Blacks' grand piano – though Sirius had informed them it had been mainly for show. Apparently he used to hide under it as a child, and even began teaching himself with a book from the Orenda family.

Molly gave a sad smile of remembrance of the Orendas, thinking fondly of both Kathryn and Elise – after all, Elise had had as many children as she, only in different genders.

The noise persisted from the drawing room. It sounded like a thin reed through the door, strains through a failing Silencing Charm.

She frowned, wondering what the noise was.

And then…

BOOM!

The sound of several harshly struck notes on the piano hit her ears as the charm failed completely.

The noise dropped off sharply, and began picking out a soft, haunting melody, both hopeful and hopeless. As the player continued, a harmony was picked up, defiant and strong.

Molly recognised the tune. _Close Every Door_.

'_Who's playing?'_ She wondered.

She knew Hermione didn't play, though the girl had been heard to sing quite well when she thought no one was listening. It was a 'frivolous' thing that no one would equate with the 'know it all'. Of her sons, only Bill and Percy had had the patience to learn to play the piano. Percy had not yet forgiven them for being _right_, and Bill was still at work. Remus had not sung anything except sad, harrowing melodies in years, and did not play the piano. Ginny was in the kitchen baking biscuits, so couldn't be the player. Neville only sang soft lullabies to his plants (he suffered from a lot of teasing for it, but it seemed to help). She did not know of anyone else who it could be.

"_Harry."_ A voice whispered in her ear.

But when had Harry shown any musical talent? The only thing she'd heard of him singing was the school song, once. Since then… Nothing. But then the boy was so secretive, even with his best friends, even more so with her, when all she wanted to do was mother him.

Still, whoever was playing clearly had practise at the song, and power behind it.

"Mum?" Ginny murmured.

Molly started, then turned and hushed her daughter.

"Who is it, Mum?" Ginny asked, wonderingly as the person played several scales, soft mutterings in the room saying such things as 'remember them', 'know this' and 'how did he know?'

Molly shook her head. "I don't know. Sounds male, but… Whoever he is, he's got talent."

"Lord, I haven't done this for a year." The voice muttered a little louder, and began playing the introduction to _Close Every Door_.

A clear voice that seemed to be able to sing tenor and bass started the song softly.

"_Close every door to me,_

_Hide all the world from me…_"

However, as he got nearer the chorus, the voice managed the higher notes flawlessly, and began to get stronger, spiteful. He had the bitterness and anger of the character down perfectly.

"_If my life were important, _

_I would ask, will I live or die?_

_But I know the answers lie far from this world!_"

Those words were sung with anger and vengeance, as if someone was finally speaking their feelings.

"_I do not matter,_

_I'm only one person._

_Destroy me completely!_

_Then throw me away!_"

Here the defiant harmony struck out, some phrases higher or lower than the tune, often sung later, more quickly. It was a song that truly needed a backing chorus.

"_For we know we shall find_

_Our own peace of mind_

_For we have been promised_

_A land… of… OUR… OWN!"_

Then there was a muttered, "Zeus, I hope the Silencing Charm worked. Stupid Ron, nicking my wand…"

Molly blinked. If Harry put up the charm – wandlessly – then there was no surprise it had not succeeded.

Ginny looked at her mother. "That's _Harry_!" She cried. "Who knew he had such a wonderful voice? Or he could play?"

"No one, I'm sure." Molly nodded. "_Silencio_." She murmured, her wand out. "We'll leave him be, for now. There's a reason he hasn't shared this, and he's using the music to vent."

Ginny nodded. "Good way. I always sing when I'm angry or scared."

"Or you play that harp. Not to mention the piano yourself." Molly gave a smile

Ginny nodded. "You told me it was a tradition for your side of the family. Besides, it's fun."

XXXXX

_18th July 2003:_

"POTTER!"

Harry tripped over his feet coming down the stairs as the voice roared his name, only to be joined by the screams of Sirius' insane mother's portrait.

"What?" He groaned, rubbing a shin as he entered the hall, glaring at Moody.

"We're going to do a little training session."

Harry's eyes widened. "Training? W-with you? But, Professor…"

"I was never your professor, boy. I'm Moody, or Mad-Eye. And I do train some people, you know." His eyes were fierce. "The _best_ people. Trained your da."

Harry's eyes widened. "Really?"

Moody nodded. "I was head of his group. Gave them the news of acceptance myself. 'Course none of them could keep their hormones in check…"

Harry didn't want to know and followed the man down into the training room that had been set up in the basement.

"You still exercising?" Moody asked him.

Harry gave a nod. "Press-ups, sit-ups, crunches and pull-ups every morning and evening. No chance of doing any flying or running in here though."

Moody gave a feral grin that looked odd on his scarred face. "Not just the Muggles with exercise equipment, boy, oh no."

Harry looked at him oddly. "What am I training in then?"

"Fencing for one. Old pureblood tradition, but your da would've taught you. He liked the exercise. Handy for strengthening the body as well. I'll also be improving your aim, dodging, blocking and tactics in duelling. We'll also be helping you learn how to cope in battle situations with several opponents and you may learn one or two new spells along the way." Moody informed him.

"What about the others?"

"They've got their own training, Potter, don't you worry. Miss Granger's being taught healing spells by Madam Pomfrey. Weasley and Longbottom will be joining us in a few days."

"Ginny?"

Moody raised an eyebrow but answered with a grunt. "She's learning some things from Tonks and her mother."

Harry didn't dare add to that.

"Smart girl, that one." Moody continued. "Pretty little voice."

"Voice?" Harry asked, startled.

"Girl sings. Like some of my old recruits. Reminds me of another pretty redhead who sang." Moody gave a grin again. "Your mother had a good voice."

"M-my mother?"

"Oh, yes, Potter. Now we're here though…" Moody looked around the basement. "Twenty laps around the perimeter. Go!"

Glad he'd worn casual clothes and trainers, Harry obeyed the gnarled Auror, pacing himself carefully for the heavy workload he knew was to come.

XXXXX

_22nd July 2003:_

"What are the Deadly Curses? Potter?" Moody demanded as the three boys in front of him did press-ups into the hundreds.

"Seven curses thought to be based on the Seven Deadly Sins." Harry responded swiftly. They were used to the pattern by now. "The permanent curses are Lust, Bestial and Pride of Vanity, a derivative of the Pride Curse. The non-permanent are Pride, Sloth, Greed, Envy and Gluttony. Seth, a wizard responsible for many evil curses and potions today, created them in Egyptian times. They cannot be blocked, cannot be defeated, though on occasion the non-permanent ones can be overcome by intense strength of mind."

"Good. Weasley, what's a Lanydadd?"

"Welsh demon, long, nasty claws, evil. Weak point is the horn on its head – if sliced off, the demon dies, melting into water. However, very strong and long reach is hard to escape."

"Right. Longbottom, why is korrehn dangerous?"

Neville took a deep breath before replying, "It is a usually illegal, magical plant with destructive properties. It is a key ingredient in the Unforgivable Potions. About a quarter of the magical population is allergic to it. It can be dried and placed in a sphere with an explosive, creating an allergy-activating smoke as it burns. Favoured by Death Eaters in the last war, and used in the large attack on Diagon Alley, Hallowe'en 1984."

Moody smiled grimly. The boys were getting it.

XXXXX

_30th July 2003:_

Harry flung his head back, hearing the crack of his captor's nose on the contact. A sharp elbow to the ribs and heel into the instep loosened the grip further, before he grabbed his assailant's left arm and flung him over his hip. Even as he landed, Harry twisted his arm behind his back, while pulling out a knife to hold to his opponent's throat.

"Time!" Moody's voice rang out.

Harry let go and helped his 'opponent' up.

"Bluddy 'ell, 'Arry." Ron spoke thickly. "You bwoke by bose."

Hermione rolled her eyes, and cast a spell that first cleared away the blood and stopped the bleeding, then fixed the break itself.

Harry grinned. "Well, next time, don't get me like that. I'm short enough that the top of the back of my head contacts quite solidly with your nose if I do a head-butt."

Moody gave a nod. "Very good Potter. You're improving. Your speed is incredible." Moody praised him, surprisingly.

It was no wonder. Harry Potter had taken to physical fighting like he had to flying. The boy had perfect body memory. His speed was another attribute, one of the ones that had been worked upon ever since he was a small child trying to outrun Dudley and his gang of thugs.

"Thanks." Harry looked surprised.

"All right, tomorrow you're only having a light workout in the morning, it being Potter's birthday, you get some time off. But no slacking. You'll be up at normal times." Moody warned them.

"Aye, aye, Cap'n." Harry saluted jauntily, then sniffed his armpit, wrinkling his nose. "Ugh, I stink. Permission to take shower, sir!"

"Granted." Moody rolled his eyes (real and magical), giving a very disconcerting look. "All of you, training's over for today. Granger, you might want to work on your own speed and suchlike. Healing's not all done away from the battlefield."

Hermione nodded, following Harry out of the basement.

As they passed the Drawing Room, there were a few strains of music.

"_Come on and cry me a river_

_Cry me a river_

_I cried a river over you…_"

"What _are_ they training Ginny in?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Someone dropped a theory about the power of her voice." Hermione replied.

"She can sing high enough to shatter windows?" Harry suggested.

"Nah, she's got some ability with it." Ron explained from behind him. "You know how she can make you admit things you don't want to, or shut you up with a word?"

Harry gave a nod. "They think that's _magic_?"

Ron nodded. "Power of Voice. Very rare. The singing's to help her learn to control it. Might as well be a Siren."

Harry began sniggering.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked.

"Can you imagine her reaction to being called a Siren?"

"About the same to you being called a Hunter." Ron smirked.

Harry turned round, eyes wide. "_What_?"

"According to Moody, you're 'built for huntin' Death Eaters'." Ron informed him, with a passable impression of the grizzled Auror.

Harry shrugged. "Good genes, that's all."

Ron and Hermione gave him side-along glances, before Neville shook his head and chuckled.

"Might as well be magic, Harry." Neville told him cheerfully. "Actually, I can imagine you and Ginny as a team – she stuns everyone with some singing and you take them all out." As he said this, he rolled a shoulder and heard a satisfying click as it moved. "Ah, that's better."

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "That's disgusting."

Harry cracked his neck in answer. "But it feels _so_ good after training. Anyway, I'll see you in a minute, I need a shower."

He ran up the stairs so swiftly that the others began to wonder if Moody and Neville's assessments of Harry's abilities weren't true.

XXXXX

_31st July 2003:_

Harry woke up on his sixteenth birthday feeling more content than he had in a long time. For the first time since starting Hogwarts he had not needed to be up at midnight to receive his birthday presents. No, they would be waiting for him somewhere in this house. Whether he'd receive them at breakfast or later, he didn't know. The idea of presents was, as yet, still novelty.

Slowly he opened his eyes before stretching luxuriously. He had grown at least two inches in the past month. Unsurprising, really, considering his age and previous non-growth. Though he didn't realise it, he was slowly turning into a young man that would have near every girl at school salivating – and possibly one or two of the boys as well.

He looked over at his friends. Ron was snoring, but Neville was awake. Moody, who had not forgotten the boy's birthday, merely left their day off to Harry's, had helped set up the party that had awaited them when Harry and the others finished washing. The birthday boy had been thrilled with everyone – including his grandmother – celebrating, not to mention the fact that they'd successfully hidden it from him.

"Morning, Neville." Harry yawned.

"Mornin', Harry." Neville replied. "You know, I feel really odd."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Odd how?"

Neville shrugged as he sat up. "I dunno. Never mind."

"Always work that out later." Harry agreed.

"C'mon, we'd best get up."

Harry nodded. "Moody's only giving us _some_ time off. Besides, slacking one day now is about the most harmful time in the regime. When we've finished the initial training and got to full fitness, only then will we be able to slack off for a day."

Neville gave a grin as he swung his feet onto the floor. "You're taking the lessons to heart, aren't you?"

"Why not?" Harry asked as he half-stumbled out of bed. "Got to remember these things."

"Harry, if I didn't know better, I'd swear you had Amazons in your family tree."

Harry stared at him blankly. "What, like the Greek ones?"

Neville grinned. "Magical beings from which the myths originate. Mostly female, legendary warriors, strong ties to magical creatures. Tend to live in mountainous regions. Most live in Europe. I think the only ones that have been seen in Britain have been wives. However, Britain has the highest nymph population in the world."

Harry gave a smirk – it was new 'habit' of reminding or teaching each other at random moments. "Which is because Britain has the highest number of nature's and magic's sinkholes in Europe. Despite the number of forests that have been cleared, we still have a great deal of hidden ones."

"And even more lakes and such with reservoirs which the water nymphs love." Neville finished.

There was a groan from Ron's bed. "It is too early in the morning to hear you two recite lessons."

The boys smirked. "C'mon, Ron." Harry cried childishly. "It my birfday!"

"And it'll be your deathday as well if you aren't downstairs soon enough." A voice spoke from the door.

"Morning Tonks." Harry grinned as he straightened his covers and began searching for some clothes.

"You too, birthday boy. Now get down there. Moody still wants to lecture you and do a bit of training."

The boys nodded as the young Auror left, yawning and dressing quickly.

"Aurora bless the new day and what it holds." Harry prayed cheerfully.

XXXXX

The three boys entered the kitchen after their morning of training to see the girls, Remus and Mrs Weasley all preparing lunch.

"Good morning?" Remus asked from behind his newspaper.

The boys all nodded.

"Just a 'light workout' as Moody puts it." Harry grinned, still dripping with sweat.

"You three ought to shower before coming to table." Mrs Weasley looked disapproving.

"_Refrigerere_." Harry incanted, pointing his wand towards himself. Instantly he looked – and smelt – refreshed and clean.

"Where did you learn that?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"Moody." Ron stated after he did the same thing. "He reckons it's an important one to know. Not as severe as _Scourgify_, but enough to clean you. Good for cleaning after Flooing as well."

"Not as good as a shower, but it does the job." Neville grinned at her, before following his two friends.

"Learn anything _else_ useful?" Hermione asked, envious.

"Mainly about dark spells and such." Harry replied. "Moody wants us to know as much as possible about them in order to protect ourselves from them. Though why we should need to know about how to protect against miscarriage spells I don't know…" He frowned. "Those can only be cast by the father or mother anyway."

The glass Mrs Weasley was holding fell to the ground, shattering.

"Mum!" Ron leapt up. "Are you okay?"

"Th-there are protection spells?" She asked.

Harry nodded. "One or two. Or ways to avert them. One's very rare, but strong, if you're strong enough. Why?"

"I – I…"

Mr Weasley looked at his wife as she struggled for words. She nodded. "Molly had a miscarriage in the fifth month due to a spell from a Death Eater. It was about two years after we had Charlie. She –"

"I wasn't keen on the idea of more kids after that." Molly answered. She then gave a wry smile. "As you can see, that didn't last for long."

Harry felt guilty for bringing the subject up. "I'm sorry, Mrs Weasley, I didn't know –"

"How could you have?" Molly replied tartly. "We've barely told anyone in the family. I don't think even the twins know."

Ron and Ginny nodded.

"That's how Death Eaters work, though, isn't it?" Neville sneered at the thought. "Why kill you when they can mentally torment you for years on end?"

There was a silence. Neville had been damaged by the attack on his parents almost as much as they had.

"Well then, as charming as this topic is, why don't we torment the birthday boys instead?" Ginny asked brightly.

"Boy." Neville pointed out. "My birthday was yesterday."

"Pish tush." Ginny flapped a hand. "We only had the party yesterday – teasing's today. So I can torment you as much as I want."

It is odd how the word torment can mean something akin to torture from an enemy and relentless teasing and suchlike from friends.

"Are you sure it isn't _Harry_ who you're intending on tormenting, Miss Weasley?" Neville asked, surprising all of them by the insinuation.

Ginny went red.

"Neville Longbottom!" Tonks cried – she knew the boy well by now. "Of all the people! I _never_ expected that of you!"

Neville shrugged. "What can I say? People change."

"Were you embarrassed, sweet Siren?" Harry teased the young redhead.

"Siren?" Ginny asked.

"Well, you have a wonderful voice. The Sirens led men to their deaths with a seductive song…" Harry smirked.

"Harry Potter!" Tonks exclaimed again, getting into character. "What _has_ gotten into you all today?"

"Hormones, Nymphadora. And I've suffered more've them than you know." Moody grumbled as he clumped in.

"Oh?" Tonks asked, raising a brow.

"After Potter's parents returned, we had three young couples in Headquarters. I don't think there was a single Auror that _hadn't_ walked in on at least one lot snogging."

"What do you mean after my parents returned?" Harry asked.

Moody looked surprised. "No one told you? Your parents both left shortly into their Auror courses after being compelled and emotionally blackmailed by a disguised Bellatrix Lestrange. Two years before we found them again. At least they were qualified."

Harry blinked. "You know, Bellatrix Lestrange is _really_ starting to get on my nerves, the more I hear."

Neville gave a bitter laugh. "You think?"

"Yep." Harry clapped his friend on the back in a friendly way. "How about we get her, Neville? I wouldn't want to use her curse, but Chinese water torture might be adequate."

"Bastinado, I think."

"Or maybe use some Muggle devices since she hates them so much. Cattle prods probably give a similar feel to a localised Cruciatus…"

The others stared.

"If I didn't know who you were talking about, I'd be extremely scared right now." Ginny told them.

"Why? Maybe you could help." Harry had an insane grin. "She's one of Tom's favourites, and I've heard women have crueller minds than men."

"You do _not_ want me to use my Voice on you." Ginny replied.

"I fall under your spell with no magical voice, fair Ginevra." Harry mock-swooned.

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "Who told you my full name?"

"Twins."

"Excuse me."

She left, and soon there were some spells and yells that sounded like a Howler being made.

XXXXX

The party that evening had been hilarious, particularly as Fred and George arrived, sprouting identical blue hair with red skin and yellow spots. It seemed Ginny had had her revenge.

Harry appreciated his presents all the more for seeing his friends as he opened them. Dragon-hide wand, dagger and sword sheaths were gifts from his tutors. Moody gave him a book entitled _Constant Vigilance_. The author, surprisingly enough, turned out to be Moody himself. Various trinkets were gifted to him from his friends and the others. The Weasleys, oddly enough, gave him several music books – centring on Muggle musicals. He knew at that moment that some of his playing on the piano had been heard as he stammered his thanks.

"So, are we going to hear any of this magical Voice we've been hearing about?" Ron teased his sister.

"No. I can't risk setting a spell. I'm learning not to put any power into it. It's weird, it started exactly a month before my birthday, and such things shouldn't happen until I turn sixteen, not fifteen…" She frowned.

"Ginny, you will be fine with singing. Even if you sang a love song with Harry, he's powerful enough to break through it." Tonks informed her – she knew a lot about unusual magics, being a Metamorphmagus. "Unless Harry _wants_ it to work."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm sure the prettiest of the Weasleys will excuse me if I do _not_ fall under a true spell."

"Are you saying I'm not pretty, Harry?" Molly smiled teasingly.

Harry grinned in response. "'No, good mother, here's metal more attractive.'"

Both Molly and Ginny blushed at the compliment and Hermione looked impressed.

"_Hamlet_, Harry?" She asked, surprised.

"I had to read _something_ to stop myself from going stir-crazy at the Dursleys' last year. Why do you think all Dudley's books are in 'my' room? I'm the only one who reads them."

Hermione nodded.

Ron grinned. "Read _Romeo and Juliet_?"

"Yes, why?" Harry looked suspicious.

"Guess which of Shakespeare's stories has its roots in wizarding legend?"

Harry frowned for a moment, then his eyes widened. "The Draught of Living Death."

Hermione looked even more impressed.

"I can't believe it!"

"Get round a cauldron, and start chanting 'Double, double, toil and trouble' if you really don't." Harry responded cheekily.

Hermione threw the large book she had gifted him (_Wand Care for Wizards (and their Witches)_, which she had actually received the advice from the twins on, feeling especially wicked) at his head.

XXXXX

_1st August 2003:_

The next morning the group was greeted with sober faces.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

He was passed the morning's copy of _The Daily Prophet_.

Across the front ran three blaring headlines.

_POTTER GRAVES DESECRATED!_

_BREAK IN INTO THE DEPARTMENT OF MYSTERIES: HAVE THE UNSPEAKABLES LOST THE PLOT?_

_SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT? FUDGE'S CAREER IN RUINS!_

XXXXX

A/N:

Cliffhanger!

Ha ha! You didn't think you could get away from them this early, did you?

Nice long chapter, this is – 19 pages! Hope you appreciate me.

And you've got to admire FanFiction's new stuff – authors can reply now! That's great! And the new Support feature. I've already posted up suggestions.

Like adding a 'world' feature to the Harry Potter fics. And the Star Wars ones.

I don't get to see _Goblet of Fire_ until tomorrow. Boohoo. Still, tomorrow's good.

So far I have chapters 1-4 completed, and I'm part way through chapter 5. You will get the next chapter before Christmas, but I'm trying to build up a reserve. I'm in my A-level year, so I have loads of work to do. Real Life and my future take precedence I'm afraid.

On the bright side, I've had four offers from universities. On the not so bright side, none of them are my top one. Only one of my top three.

Oh well.

Hope you liked, please review, and stay warm – we're in an extremely cold spell!

Lol, Tanydwr


	3. Chapter 3: Startling Events

This month has been crazy! Exams, coursework, Christmas, relatives… And while I'd written, this, it still needed editing!

Hope you enjoy, and before I get any more reviews begging for more chapters of _Teasing, Teaching and Time Travel_, I'm working on it. Unfortunately, that work is on the gigantic case of writer's block I have on that story. On the bright side, I've branched into Star Wars, and I've started several fics, including a couple of crossovers. So maybe they'll be up in the next few months as well. It's my cure for writer's block – write a new or completely different story/genre.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 3: Startling Events**

_1st August 2003:_

Harry stared at the newspapers, his throat dry.

"W-what?" He rasped. "H-how? W-why?"

"We don't know any more about it than you do. However, I would have thought that the Ministry would have contacted you about the desecration of your parents' graves before telling the _Daily Prophet_." Molly looked disgusted.

"It was a _Daily Prophet_ reporter who went there." Tonks responded. "Apparently responding to someone's comment about fifteen years…" She frowned as she read her copy. "Here, _'judged to be referring to fifteen years after the fall of Voldemort, we at the _Daily Prophet_ have been looking for strange occurrences for the past month, since we assumed 'fifteen years' to be approximate. Since Harry Potter himself was vital to the destruction of Lord Voldemort the first time, we acted on instinct that something might happen around his birthday. All the same, we had no idea that it could be something as dreadful as this.'_ Charming, really, didn't think to tell _you_ about their suspicions…"

Harry sat down, shaking slightly. This was all so surreal.

"What did they do?" Harry asked. "And why didn't anyone take me?"

Dumbledore was at the door to answer this. "We all assumed you had seen their graves. We were unable to bury them in the Potter family crypt, so they were buried in Godric's Hollow. However, so many have seen them…"

"It's a crime that their son has not." Molly stated. "And if I ever get my hands on the Dursleys…"

Harry gave a smirk. "I still like remembering what that Orenda woman did to Uncle Vernon." He rhapsodised. "A fine right hook, sent him to the floor, straight out of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_."

Hermione stared at Harry. "You _watch_ that?"

Harry shook his head. "Dudley does, though he does it more for seeing the girls fighting in short skirts, tight tops and leather than anything else. But I'd say it was the same thing Faith did to Buffy's mum."

"What?"

"Faith was a homicidal Slayer called because Buffy had died and been revived. She woke up from the coma Buffy put her in and visited Buffy's mother. It was a case of door opened, 'Hi Joyce', fist knocking her to floor. Same thing, except substitute 'Joyce' for 'Vernon' and Uncle Vernon didn't fall unconscious. And apparently Vernon had hit her before." Harry spat. "Effing bastard…"

The others blinked, and Albus Dumbledore was suddenly reminded of a hysterical young woman on her first morning at Hogwarts, crying about a vision. And he knew that had Vernon Dursley not been cursed, Harry would never have made it to Hogwarts. And he wasn't certain about the life expectancy of Petunia either.

Harry abruptly turned back to the subject at hand. "So what happened to the graves?"

"Looks like someone hit the whole lot with an exploding hex." Tonks replied. "The earth had been thrown from the ground. The coffins were untouched, except that they were empty. The only other clue is this."

A picture on page five showed the words _'Deceased no longer'_ scrawled in vibrant lettering across the large, semi-intact headstone that had covered them both.

Dumbledore blinked. "I know that writing…"

"It was burned into the stone. I've never seen a flame hot enough." Tonks replied. It seemed that she had been called in to look at it overnight.

"When did the others take place? Any actual course of events?" Harry asked.

"The graves first. There are suspicions that it could be all the same person. Another fear is that Voldemort has taken the bodies to hurt you. It doesn't make sense, since they'll be too decomposed to be used as Inferi." Tonks groaned.

"Not with Avada Kedavra. It completely suspends animation in the body. It dies, but it remains at the point of death with decomposition. Some even claim the corpses age, which is leading into a lot of research for a counter." Dumbledore explained.

Harry's face went pale, having read up on Inferi.

"However, Voldemort would _not_ use his enemies for that. He is too superstitious to use the corpses of the parents of the child who is involved in the prophecy with him." He smiled at Harry. "He still does not know what it says and is in dread fear of bringing about his destruction."

"I'm not." Harry responded again. "Who broke into the Department of Mysteries?"

Moody gave a grim smile. "Tha's the interestin' thing, isn't it? No one _actually_ broke in. They had a security code."

"Who's?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"A pretty effective one, considering it scanned the iris."

"They broke into the Veil Room, didn't they?" Harry asked suddenly.

They stared. "How did you know…"

"I – I just had the weirdest dream." Harry replied. "As though I was floating in front of the archway. Someone was using my name… even my magic… to call someone forth, but I don't know who."

Dumbledore's eyes widened.

"Excuse me." He stated, and threw Floo powder into the fireplace, disappearing quickly.

"What was that all about?" Ginny wondered.

Remus shook his head. "I don't know. Boys, I'll be doing the training today. Moody and Tonks are required at the Ministry."

"Why Moody?" Harry asked, surprised.

"That is classified, Potter, but good question." Moody growled as he and Tonks headed towards the door.

"What about me?" Ginny asked Tonks.

"Ask Remus, he's taking all of you."

The girls looked surprised, the boys grinned, and Remus looked resigned.

XXXXX

"So, Mr Potter, why exactly were you given a bunch of music books for your birthday?" Hermione asked, brow raised.

Harry coloured a little. "I – I…"

"You what?"

"I play the piano."

Silence met him.

"Really?" Ron rasped. "You – you do?"

Harry nodded. "I enjoy it. One of my primary school teachers used to teach me for free after school. I think she had an idea of my home life. I haven't done loads since, but it's the kind of thing that never leaves you. Even in Hogwarts…"

"Room of Requirement?" Ginny asked.

"Room of Requirement. I thought it was a music room at first, and used it as such every once in a while. It wasn't until Dobby explained…"

"Interesting." Ginny nodded, then smirked. "Well, Mr Potter, show us what you can do?"

"P-pardon?"

"Play us a little ditty."

"Only if you sing." Harry challenged her.

"All right then, duet?" Ginny replied.

Harry swore. She must have been speaking to Tonks and her mother about the control she wasn't sure she had yesterday.

"Fine. Any preferences?" Harry asked, getting out of his chair and walking over to the old grand piano.

"What music do you have?"

"Well, it looks like your parents are fans of Andrew Lloyd Webber…"

"And any Muggle musical in existence." Ron grinned. "I think Mum's dearest ambition is to persuade Celestina Warbeck to sing in _Jesus Christ Superstar_."

"Ah-ha!" Ginny cried triumphantly, holding a thick music book entitled _Male and Female Duets: The Musicals_.

She flipped through quickly, occasionally marking one or two, sighing at others, before selecting one.

"This one."

Harry looked at it and grinned. He loved the story, and this song, for all it wasn't so much a 'love' song as a symbol of one man's obsession, was absolutely amazing.

A charm to the piano meant it was sounding out like a church organ as he began playing the introduction.

Ginny's voice rang out clearly and beautifully, surprisingly strong for a girl yet to turn fifteen.

"_In sleep he sang to me._

_In dreams he came._

_That voice which calls to me,_

_And speaks my name _

_And do I dream again? _

_For now I find,_

_The phantom of the opera is there, _

_Inside my mind._"

They gasped at the ease with which she reached both high and low notes. Now was time for Harry and they watched and listened with interest to hear the voice that only Molly and Ginny had half-heard.

"_Sing once again with me _

_Our strange duet._"

They stared in awe at the young man's powerful voice as he stood and they could almost see the Phantom of the Opera calling Christine.

"_My power over you,_

_Grows stronger yet._

_And though you turn from me _

_To glance behind._

_The phantom of the opera is there _

_Inside your mind._"

In a bizarre thought, Hermione mused that really Tom Riddle ought to be singing this with Ginny. Harry ought to be the love interest, Raoul, singing _All I Ask of You_. Hmm, maybe she could convince them to sing that sometime.

The duet took hold now, as Ginny took the first lines.

_  
_"_Those who have seen your face draw back in fear. _

_I am the mask you wear._"

_  
_Harry grinned as he sang the next line, his voice smooth and seductive.

"_It's me they hear._"

_  
_They both sang with power and danger in their voices.

"_My/Your spirit and your/my voice,_

_In one combined _

_The phantom of the opera is there _

_Inside your/my mind._"

_  
_Almost magically, musical voices sang the part of the Chorus. Maybe it was the listeners themselves, but none afterwards would be able to explain who sang.

"_Is that the phantom of the opera? _

_Beware the phantom of the opera._"

Now Harry took control, his voice becoming even more commanding, as Ginny stood in front of the piano, almost seemed to sway under his control.

"_In all your fantasies you always knew,_

_That man and mystery…_"

Ginny nodded turning to look at Harry as she answered him.

"_Were both in you._"

_  
_Again their voices seemed to soar as they sang in unison.

"_And in this labyrinth,_

_Where night is blind,_

_The Phantom of the opera is there/here_…"

_  
_Ginny sang the last line of the 'chorus' alone.

"_Inside my mind._"

Harry grinned as he sang the Phantom's last line, his hands moving across the piano's keys at amazing speed. Not to mention he over-acted the words.

"_Sing, my Angel of Music!_"

_  
_Ginny turned towards him, looking at him as he played, a smile graced her face as she sang the lines.

"_He's there, _

_The Phantom of the Opera…_"

And now Ginny's face became a perfect mask of concentration as she sent her voice soaring systematically through the notes.

"_Ahhh… ahhahhahh ahh!_"

Several times the phrase was repeated, each higher, until Harry uttered the last of the Phantom's orders to an unknowing Christine.

"_Sing for me!_"

Ginny's voice soared higher, hitting a note perfectly that few could ever hope to reach correctly.

"_Aaaaahhhhhhh_!"

Her last note and Harry's last on the piano finished with triumph and they smiled at each other before turning to their friends.

Hermione, Ron and Neville looked dumbstruck. They had been joined by Fred and George on the sofas, for once unable to say anything. Molly, Arthur, Remus, McGonagall and Dumbledore stood around the door, each with equally amazed looks on their faces.

"I think we ought to bring back the dances with talent shows, Albus." McGonagall stated, her eyes never once leaving the two now slightly embarrassed-looking Gryffindors.

"Indeed." Albus responded, still looking shocked, which disconcerted Harry and Ginny even more.

Arthur shook himself and smiled. "That was one of the finest versions of that song I have ever heard. And I'm not biased just because my daughter and Harry were singing it."

The two blushed over the praise.

Their father's words seemed to awaken the twins. "Hey, Harry!" They spoke in unison and began their typical alternating speech.

"Why didn't you…"

"Tell us…"

"You were…"

"The Maestro…"

"The Master…

"The Phantom of the Opera!" They finished, grinning in unison.

Harry went red. "I – I'm not that good… I just know the song…"

McGonagall walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You sing as well as your parents did. They would be pleased to know that another Potter tradition has been fulfilled, albeit unknowingly."

"What?"

McGonagall's eyes rested wickedly on Ginny for a split-second, suggesting that there was more to her words than she claimed, and explained. "Almost all Potters are raised with music. Music, Quidditch and duelling, the three trademarks of the Potter name. Your mother was as good as your father, though she never matched his speed."

Harry blinked rapidly. "Mum played Quidditch?"

"She played Chaser with your father and Miss Orenda in their final year. He was Seeker before that."

Harry nodded. The switch of positions explained _a lot_.

"I daresay that she couldn't reach the notes Miss Weasley can, though, and she was a fine singer. None of those girls could."

A barely perceptible moan was heard from Remus as he looked away, but perceptible it was.

The others did not mention it, but Harry made a resolution to find out who his mother had known and what caused Remus pain.

"You know, this would make a nice piece for the _Prophet_." Hermione mused, then giggled. "Or even better, the _Quibbler_. Boy Who Lived Sings And Bursts Voldemort's Eardrums!"

"No, that would require a higher note, but I'm sure the Siren could oblige." Harry responded dryly.

Ginny whacked him. "What have I told you about calling me that?"

"Don't?"

"Yes!"

"No can do. Mermaid does fit, and I've yet to find a nymph who sings. Unless you prefer the _other_ names for someone who can control with their voice…"

"All right then, but you are in trouble."

"I don't doubt it." Harry remarked.

Minerva smiled, whispering to Albus. "It's like seeing Lily and James again."

She didn't count on Harry's exceptional hearing as he froze, blushed furiously, and walked out suddenly. A few moments later, they heard several thuds against the wall.

"What's he doing?" Ginny asked curiously.

"It appears that he had entered the kitchen and begun hitting his head against the wall." Dumbledore stated as though remarking on the weather. "I can't imagine why."

Ginny nodded, walked past the audience at the doorway, and proceeded into the kitchen. There was the noticeable sign of Silencing Charm going up.

"Hmm, very like." Dumbledore responded to his deputy.

"Who's like who?"

Molly's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, Minerva, you didn't!"

The deputy headmistress gave a slight grin. "I might have mentioned a passing resemblance to the behaviour of his parents… He didn't wait to hear that it was _before_ they got together."

"_While_ they were flirting." Remus pointed out. "I'm not sure how he'd take the story of how his parents got together."

"What happened?" The 'children' chorused, wicked glints in every eye.

"I walked out to see them snogging." An unfamiliar voice spoke. "Assuming you're speaking about James and Lily, of course."

The adults all whipped around, wands in hand, the students joining them with equal swiftness.

All colour from Remus' face drained. "Damion?"

In the doorway stood a fair-haired man appearing somewhere between twenty-five and thirty-five (meaning he could be as old as fifty, since wizards aged differently). His eyes were a light grey, and he wore a broad smile.

"Ah, Unspeakable Jackson. You have returned to the Department?" Dumbledore asked.

"First thing this morning. How on Earth did they end up with two break-ins in as many months? The security hasn't been changed since I was there!"

"Indeed, however it seems that whoever broke in the second time had had access at some point." Dumbledore seemed to convey more than the children understood.

"Agreed. Now, going to put down the wands? We were invited, you know." Damion Jackson grinned.

"We?" Remus asked.

"You expect him to know where his stuff is without me to tell him?" A feminine voice asked laughingly. "It's not been that long, Remus."

A dark-haired and –eyed woman with tan, almost olive, skin entered their eyesight. Remus' wand dropped.

"Alura!" He gasped, and suddenly grasped the two of them in his arms, shaking slightly.

"What's going on?" Harry's voice spoke from the hall – he and Ginny had arrived to ask about the commotion.

The two were released, their eyes widening. "Oh dear Merlin." Damion gasped. "He looks so much like James."

"Lily's eyes." Alura pointed out. "And nose. And… what do you know it, he has Lily's skin tone too!"

"Alura, James and Lily had identical skin tones. Comes from redheaded genes." Damion pointed out.

"All the same…"

"Who are you?" Harry's voice was somewhat cold. After all, the last time someone had spoken of his parents _that_ familiarly were Sirius and Remus, and he knew how _that_ turned out.

"How do you know the Potters?" Ginny asked.

Alura jumped three feet as she saw the redhead appear from behind Harry.

"Venus's heart, don't do that!" She cried. "Seeing Harry – who could, like all Potters, pass as hid dad's brother – and having a redhead suddenly appear next to him is too much!"

Damion gave a scrutinising eye. "She doesn't look all that much like Lily though." He pointed out. "Same hair and skin tone, yes, I'll grant you, but Lily was slimmer."

Ginny looked slightly offended at that comment.

Damion laughed. "Sorry, miss, but I meant that she didn't have your curves."

Harry shut his eyes, rubbing them underneath his glasses, muttering something incomprehensible to everyone else.

"What _are_ you saying, Harry?" Ginny asked.

"I'm reciting all the Italian music commands backwards." He replied. "This is just far too confusing."

"And Italian isn't?"

He smirked. "Not at all, _cara mia_."

Hermione giggled. "How did you know that?"

"I saw Addams Family through the door. Dursleys didn't see me." Harry shrugged. "Part of me liked to base my parents on them just because they seemed so much in love."

Hermione began to laugh, unable to control herself. "Harry, if your parents are watching us now, hearing that, they'll either be scared beyond belief, or think you have a good idea."

Remus nodded. "Actually, that wouldn't surprise me at all. Except James would more likely use Welsh or Gaelic to compliment Lily."

"So, who are you?" Harry looked at the new arrivals again.

"Damion Jackson, Unspeakable, ex-Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain and a friend of your parents' via…" The woman clapped a hand over his mouth to stop him going further.

"Via his relationship with me, a member of Enchanted, and Quidditch." The woman finished with a glare at her husband. "I'm Alura Jackson, this oaf's wife, mother to his children, and magical representative in court."

"That's a lawyer." Damion answered, removing her hand.

"Actually, I think its barrister over here, Damion." Remus stated, walking into the drawing room and collapsing. "You've spent too much time across the pond."

"You should hear the kids." Damion grinned.

Alura nodded. "I can't believe we were gone for over sixteen years! Christ, this is the first time we even met Harry!"

"It is, isn't it? You left in such a hurry." Remus glared at them.

"That was a sensitive project, Remus, and you know it. The twins and Meda were barely old enough to travel, so we had to go by plane!" Damion looked crossed.

Remus' eyebrows raised. "So that's how you did it without being tracked. And Voldemort did _not_ like you…"

"No, he didn't."

Now Harry entered, slamming down the piano lid so he could collapse on the stool, leaning on the piano for support.

"I'm confused."

"We were two of your parents' best friends, but we had to leave for America a couple of months before you were born because of the threat to our family and an extremely sensitive and important case Damion was offered." Alura explained.

Harry nodded and expelled a breath slowly. "Okay, I think I get it."

"Would you care to sit down?" Molly asked them, suddenly reassured by that. "I'll go and make some tea…"

"Oh would you?" Damion's eyes shone. "Proper English tea. Now _that_ is something you can't get in the US. The stuff they sell as tea is…"

"Not as good as ours. Though the herbal teas _are_ good." Alura interrupted. Her husband had gained quite the tongue in America.

"I was going to say that." He told her innocently.

"Suuure."

"I was!"

"Let's do introductions, shall we?" Dumbledore smiled. "The lady who just left is Molly Weasley. This is her husband Arthur…"

Damion shook his hand. "I remember you." He frowned, then grinned. "'Course I should, Kat rescued you. And Molly… I remember the reactions…"

Arthur nodded. "Her father was furious. Not to mention her husband."

Damion nodded, remembering being told. "He went crazy."

Harry groaned, rubbed his eyes again and asked, "Who are we talking about?"

"The girl that saved ours lives. We told you the day we arrived." Arthur explained.

Harry nodded, Kathryn Orenda, but he wanted her _married_ name. He had a feeling it was important – and that she may even have been _Sirius'_ wife. It would make sense…

"Obviously you remember Minerva."

"Professor McGonagall." The two murmured with identical grins.

The teacher rolled her eyes. "So few of my students remember I have a first name…"

"Some did."

She nodded. "True, but then they tried to use it to charm their way out of detention."

"Or _into_ it as the case may be." Remus commented with a smirk.

"And you know Remus. You recognised Harry." Harry gave a tired wave.

"Shove up, Harry." Ginny nudged him over to share the piano stool, since there was getting to be less sitting space as more people entered.

"And the lovely young redhead telling him to move is the youngest of the Weasleys, Ginevra."

Ginny scowled as she sat. "I'm Ginny, and you would do as well as Harry to remember that."

The twins winced, memories of their punishment fresh in their minds.

"The twins are Fred and George Weasley. Ronald Weasley is sat next to Hermione Granger." Dumbledore introduced.

"I forgot the Weasleys had as many kids as the Orendas."

"Where _is_ Paul anyway?" Ginny asked. He had barely been in Headquarters.

"His youngest elder sister is getting married." Remus answered.

"Adalia?"

"Yep."

"Interesting."

"Speaking of interesting…" Fred began.

"You missed the…"

"Marvellous concert…"

"We were…"

"Just witness to."

"What concert?"

And with that, Ginny and Harry ran from the room.

XXXXX

That evening saw Moody and Tonks enter the kitchen with satisfied looks on their faces.

"So?" Harry asked as soon as they appeared.

"Fudge is going to be removed from his position on the third with a full investigation into what's been going on." Tonks responded, looking satisfied.

"Whoever had that memory was careful enough to disguise themself within the memories. Never the same face twice." Kingsley Shacklebolt informed them, following the other two in. "All we could decipher was that it was a woman. Probably with a child."

"Why a child?" Harry asked, surprised.

"She was holding one in the main memory." Tonks explained. "Of when Sirius tracked Pettigrew down. She'd used a spell to hear what they were saying, and heard it, word for word."

"What other memories were there?"

"Something very odd. It was as though we were witnessing someone's vision." Kingsley explained. "But it looked to be the confrontation in the Shrieking Shack in your third-year. Bits seemed 'fast-forwarded' if you will, but…"

"Fudge was ready to burst into tears after he had so vehemently claimed Sirius had Confunded you." Tonks grinned. "Snape didn't look too rosy in it either."

"Anything else?"

"Oh, there was enough to clear Black, all right, and put Pettigrew away for good. We've even got a fairly clear idea of the person who's memories they are, but that's confidential." Moody growled. "They called me up for verification."

"And the break-in?"

"Veil Room. Evidence of heavy magic, scorch marks and death of some kind, but also of life." Damion replied.

Moody, Tonks and Kingsley stared at him.

"What?" Damion asked. "I went there this morning!"

"You've only been back a day, and already you're workin'? The Ministry's really in trouble." Moody growled, grasping his hand. "How are you, Damion?"

"Fine, fine. Glad to be back, but when one project ended, another started, and before you knew it, Meda and the twins had taken their OWL equivalents. Then we got a call from a frantic Beta, and here we are."

"Hey, Moody." Alura grinned.

Moody smiled. "How are you?"

"Well."

"How are the children?" Moody wanted to know.

"Yeah, where are they?" Remus asked, a frown marring his brow.

"Ours are visiting their grandfather, and the twins are in the Balkans on a tour. Something to do with magical and Dark Creatures."

Harry frowned. "Are they not 'yours'?"

Alura shook her head. "We're effectively their godparents. Their parents… couldn't look after them."

Everyone nodded, bowing their heads.

"So, now what?"

"Now we wait and see what the detailed examinations pull up, hope we get someone decent into office, and hope nothing else dreadful happens."

XXXXX

_3rd August 2003:_

Amelia Bones was currently filling in as Minister for Magic, and looked like a shoe-in for when the Wizengamot held elections. The Muggle-borns had been shocked to find that the Wizengamot selected the new Minister, not the people.

But it was this morning, when Tonks arrived looking horrified and frazzled, that everyone knew something _else_ had happened.

"Moody!" Her voice rang out.

"What?" He demanded as he clumped into the meeting room in which she was standing.

"St Mungo's, now."

"What's happened?" He asked.

"Classified, we need your help."

"Why?"

"Classified."

She seemed very aware that the students were listening in.

"But they…"

"Have Remus take them, Moody, we're needed now! I don't know how long Kingsley and Scrimgeour can hold it out." Tonks informed him, and Apparated out.

Moody nodded to himself, muttering. He opened the door. "Remus, take the boys today! I'm needed!"

"Where?"

"Classified."

And Moody Apparated out.

Ron looked at a pale Neville. "I'm sure your parents are fine, Neville." He responded. "It'll be an attack, surely. Why would they want to hurt them now?"

"Because Death Eaters are sadists." Harry answered grimly. "C'mon, we'll do some warm ups, and then work on the punchbags. I think I've got that illusion spell sorted. Would you prefer Bellatrix or Barty?"

If anyone thought it odd that Harry knew almost all of the Death Eaters by their first names, they didn't mention it.

"Lestrange." Neville snarled. "She just never seems to learn."

Remus joined them in the basement training room a few minutes later.

"Where was Moody called to?" He asked, knowing they had heard.

"St Mungo's." Harry sneered. "The oh-so-brave Death Eaters picking on those unable to fight back. Might be even as much challenge as picking on a bunch of fifteen and sixteen-year-olds."

He heard a throat cleared as Ginny entered.

"My apologies, fourteen, fifteen and sixteen-year-olds." Harry replied.

Silently, Remus wondered if it was exposure to Moody that was making Harry come out with comments he expected from his parents, or just genetics. None of the Marauders had accepted the deaths of innocents.

Then he connected.

"St Mungo's? What happened?"

"We don't know. All Tonks would say was that it was classified. They've got Kingsley and Scrimgeour down there, though. Must be important if the Head of the Aurors is there." Ron observed.

"Could be an attack, could be something worse. We just don't know." Harry explained.

Before long, all of them (except Ginny) were on the punch bags, each able to see hated faces.

XXXXX

A noise in the kitchen that evening signalled the return of the Order – there was a meeting.

Instantly all of those in the basement (unable to think of anything without losing it, Neville, Harry and Remus had remained in training all day) were heading up the stairs.

"What happened?" Their voices spoke in cacophony. "Who is it?"

"Not Voldemort, from appearances." Dumbledore stated. "You should all stay, you may be able to shed some light on this. Remus and Neville have the right, after all."

And with those words, Remus and Neville collapsed into chairs.

A few moments later, the rest of the Order had appeared.

Dumbledore stood. "Some time very early this morning, there were four disappearances from St Mungo's Hospital. All four are the only remaining survivors of the insanity caused by Cruciatus – Frank and Alice Longbottom, Janyd Orenda and Radella Leigh."

Harry looked horrified, Paul Orenda and Bill scared, while Neville and Remus sunk low into their chairs, unable to comprehend what happened.

"Any knowledge of the abductors?" Harry asked, his voice rough, surprising everyone.

Dumbledore shook his head. "It is very clearly not Voldemort. This was done with a subtlety and finesse that Voldemort's Death Eaters do not possess, but for the Inner Circle, and none could enter. No, all we have is the early morning visit of four unidentified people – two witches, two wizards. All the Healers on duty could remember was 'sinking into ocean pools', then nothing. There is no record of the visitors."

"But?" Hermione asked, interpreting Dumbledore's cease.

"There was a set of symbols." Moody growled. "Not seen since the first war, and most of 'em are dead."

"What?"

Ron started. "They're back. The Elementals have returned, yet vengeance must fall to the next generation."

The Order stared at him as he seemed to stare into the distance.

"Ron?" Harry asked.

"Yeah?" Ron responded, completely oblivious to what he had just said.

"I think those brains had another effect after all." Harry murmured.

"And how would you notice?" Snape sneered. "If he is as much of a dunderhead now as before, none shall tell the difference."

Dumbledore shot an admonishing look at the Potions teacher, while Molly Weasley looked furious.

"Severus, curb your tongue." Remus informed him. "Or you will find yourself using it in your own potions."

The students shivered at the cold voice of the normally calm man.

"Shouldn't you be worrying about your bitch, Lupin?" Snape gave a mocking sneer.

WHAM!

Lupin had flung Snape into the wall. Without magic. His eyes blazing a feral amber, he walked over to the potions master and picked him up, a hand around his throat.

"Insult my mate again, _Snivellus_, and you will _not_ live to regret it." Lupin informed him.

Snape, though spluttering, glared and tried to look haughty. "You would not soil your hands, werewolf. You're weak."

Lupin did not release him. "No, I'm not weak. However, I know Fenrir Greyback. Remember? I'm practically his cub." Lupin growled dangerously. "A couple of words in the wrong place, and your half-blood master will know the truth, Snivellus. Whispers, even. Werewolves have excellent hearing, as well you know."

Dumbledore had risen. "Remus, Severus! Stop this now."

Remus released the spy, and returned to his seat. Dumbledore looked furious.

"Severus, you very nearly got yourself killed." Dumbledore informed him.

"Um, not to sound stupid, but why?" Harry asked weakly.

"Radella was turned into a werewolf when Jack was driven insane. We think he was forced to watch on top of Cruciatus." Paul Orenda stated. "No one knew, not even Remus. The following full moon…"

"Radella was kidnapped again with Sirius and Kat…" Remus' voice weakened, as Paul looked down at the memory. "While they were tortured for information, Voldemort used the Cruciatus Curse on Radella during her first transformation… By the time we got there…"

"Black and Orenda were half-dead – Black was the worst – and Leigh was completely catatonic. She only responded to Lupin, and even that deteriorated." Moody growled.

"Radella had been my girlfriend since our sixth-year before the attack, nearly… five or six years?" Remus mused.

Damion nodded. "It was '86, you got together in '80. Nearly six years. I remember when the others realised you'd been snogging in Hogsmeade. First Marauder-Enchanted relationship…"

Remus gave a dry grin at the memory, then sobered. "They had used a spell to stop me from sensing her werewolf nature, and since she was fine after her escape, we didn't do a full check-up." He looked sorrowful. "If we had, it would have saved her. All the same, during that month, the wolf side of me… Well I essentially claimed her as my mate."

The children blushed, not really wanting to think about it, and understanding what it meant.

"Werewolves, like normal wolves and most humans, are strictly monogamous. After Radella… I could never move on." Remus gulped.

Something stirred in Harry. Despite this being the first he'd heard, it made a lot more sense now. He just didn't know what 'it' was.

"I wondered why she had her own room." Neville murmured. "I'm not surprised, the Ministry would have freaked if they realised there was a werewolf in St Mungo's, catatonic or not. The transformations must make it worse…"

Remus nodded, and they exchanged looks of understanding, the way only those who have suffered could.

"We need to find them, then." Hestia Jones stated. "If we don't…"

Dumbledore smiled. "I believe they are safe."

It was at this moment that the Floo lit up and – to many's surprise – Poppy Pomfrey appeared. She looked dishevelled and furious.

"You!" She accused, looking at Dumbledore. "You! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Poppy?" Dumbledore looked concerned.

"Why? Albus, he's mine! He's gone! He's gone! Why didn't you tell me?" She shrieked.

Harry was surprised when Paul caught the woman in his arms, hugging her close. "We'll find him, Poppy. I promise. We Orendas stick together."

Tears flowed down her face. "I'm not… I never had the chance…"

Paul picked up her left hand, pointing at a diamond and terran ring on the ring finger. "This makes you an Orenda. They just stole Jack before it could become official. I swear, Poppy, we'll find him. He's got too many siblings that love him for anything else to happen." Paul looked at Dumbledore. "I'm calling the twins. Adalia's working too hard on the wedding and the new protective wards to be called, and Leila's too important at St Mungo's. The goblins understand family ties, and it's not like they can't get away with it. They bring in near as much gold as Bill and I."

Dumbledore nodded. "I understand. Poppy… I'm sorry. It was remiss of us to forget such an important person in Janyd's life."

"Jack hated 'Janyd'." She sniffled.

"That he did."

The meeting was over. The students walked upstairs, heads spinning with the night's new revelations.

XXXXX

A/N:

That was nearly 5700 words long. I hope the length of the chapters make them worth the wait. And I hope you liked the musical aspects. I love musicals – as you can probably tell – and _The Phantom of the Opera_ is one of my very favourites. Don't worry, there is a purpose to the discovery of their musical talents.

And I hope this appeased the cliffhanger of the last chapter. If not… review and tell me!

Merry (belated) Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Next time I write to you, I'll be legal! (My 18th birthday's shortly after New Year.)

Lol, Tanydwr


	4. Chapter 4: An Entertaining Trip

Sorry, been meaning to get this out for a week or two, but I had exams, and I've been trying to catch up with the on-going coursework we've got on. Plus preparing for our next drama exam. Play based on _The Crucible_. Believe me, that's a creepy play.

17 pages! I'm good! That's over 5000 words. About the length of chapter I like to give. Worth a month's wait. Especially as I'm trying to pre-write as much as possible before exam months like June. And the start of uni in September - I'm preparing!

Enjoy!

**Chapter 4: An Entertaining Trip**

_Summer 2003:_

The remainder of the summer was spent furiously training. The kidnappings and break-ins had fuelled Harry and Neville in particular – both had lost their parents further. No one had understood why someone had robbed the graves of Lily and James Potter. Many had been confused as to why they weren't buried in the family crypt. That was soon answered – it had to be opened by a family member by blood or marriage, and Harry had been unavailable. They had been buried in the cemetery at Godric's Hollow.

By the end of the summer, all three boys had changed. Neville had rapidly lost his baby-fat, and, coupled with a growth spurt, he looked very different. Harry had also grown, and the mix of exercise and meals had not only improved his figure, but his speed was unrivalled. Ginny had indeed begun to call him 'Hunter', only to be called 'Siren' in response.

Indeed, her Voice had progressed and she had a power that she was still fighting to control. Once, a snapped "Sit down!" had resulted in Moody falling on his bum with everyone else, and Ginny turning scarlet.

All of them had changed from the summer of hard work. Ginny controlled her temper better, as did Ron, and both looked more toned with the physical exercise. All five were able to draw their wands at the speed of an Auror – Harry was quickest. He was not huge, still, just gracing six foot, but lean with wiry muscle. Hermione, while she had done some duelling practise, had also been researching and learning healing techniques. Her transfiguration was still to be rivalled, and she was also a skilled potions-brewer, if not an instinctive one.

Ginny's birthday came and went, none of them mentioning the funny feeling they had floating in their veins for the entire day.

Harry and Ginny did not sing with each other again, but were found on occasion with their heads together, plotting.

The brains' effect on Ron was being studied. He did not seem harmed, but occasionally came out with random facts and odd, almost prophetic sayings. He seemed able to see things others could not, which scared his mother to death.

OWLs had been achieved well. Hermione had received O for every subject except Defence, which had Harry grinning. He _had_ achieved an O in defence, where she had an E. He had Es for most of his other subjects – including Potions. He had sighed that he wouldn't be able to take it, but accepted it anyway. Astronomy had been an A, with a P for Divination and D for History of Magic, but he'd never expected to do well in the latter two anyway, particularly with a vision in the middle of History.

Hermione had achieved Os, but for her one E, which she had been disappointed about. Ron had been pleased with his results. He'd failed History of Magic and Divination – as had Harry – but never expected to pass them anyway. He'd had no Outstandings, but had achieved Es in Potions and Transfiguration. His mother had been just as pleased, particularly since he'd scored more than Fred and George put together.

The trip to Diagon Alley had been swift and abrupt, following the delivery of the Hogwarts letters. Harry had been fascinated by Fred and George's joke shop, where they'd even set up a range of Defence items as well. One or two items – like the Extendable Ears and Eyes – were not on the shelves, being used exclusively by the Order – and Harry.

But even as they trained, the teenagers heard whispers, desperately trying to put together the puzzle of information that had been hidden for years. Kathryn Orenda – or was it Black as Harry was beginning to suspect? It would explain the conversations a lot more, not to mention Sirius.

Damion and Alura Jackson's children remained conspicuous by their absence in the Order Headquarters. They were left at home, with their grandparents, out with friends… Even the adopted children. It almost seemed specifically the adopted children.

Amelia Bones had been selected as the Minister, just ahead of the Head of the Auror Department, Rufus Scrimgeour. It had been decided that Scrimgeour was best where he was, though he was also one of Amelia's close advisors. It had been a near-run thing, with an attack on the Bones' home, but the vigilante had appeared again, and the Death Eaters were found outside, bound and bloodied, with a message written in fire – _'You will not take another family member from that girl.'_ 'Fire Star' had clearly meant Susan Bones, in Harry's year, who Harry remembered had lost her parents in the first war (they were members of the Order of the Phoenix), and she lived with her unmarried aunt. Silently, they all thanked whatever deities they believed in that the new Minister had not been harmed.

There had been a single day when Harry, tired of his hand-me-down Muggle clothing had commissioned the help of Tonks, Hermione and Ginny in shopping for some new clothes. His 'new look', as they put it, was one of casual sophistication. It had been decided that Harry's good looks – like Neville's – were the kind that would not look out of place in a First World War military uniform. They were the old-fashioned kind of handsome that was often admired in the wizarding world. Hermione had commented dryly that Harry also had the eyes of someone who had lived through the First World War.

Harry's only reply was a wondering question of maybe he was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Hermione had merely stared, as her friend grinned as he picked up some shirts.

Ginny had made a joking comment about her brother as a punk, to which Hermione had again stared, but looked thoughtful. Ron wasn't one who'd look good in the old uniform, but rather the modern day Muggle loose jeans, tank top and shirt. Harry had just shaken his head at this comment, saying that it was all in the eye of the beholder, and how could attractiveness be split into periods anyway? This had begun a lecture that confused him thoroughly, except for when Ginny stated that he'd be thought of as a warrior whatever time-period they were in.

Harry had shuddered, praying he'd never have to go through serious time-travel.

Clothing bought, Harry had next engaged the help of Bill in enchanting his trunk permanently to hold more than the dimensions. He promised to buy himself a new trunk at some point – he didn't have nearly enough space in it now.

It wasn't until a few days later that it occurred to him that he could leave some belongings behind. He'd never risked it at the Dursleys, but here… He had his own room. Admittedly, it was shared with Ron and Neville, but still. He gave a smile. It wasn't home, but it was somewhere he belonged.

The first of September was arriving all too soon, and with the usual frantic packing and searching. Harry had pinned his Captain's badge to his robes in preparation, silently thrilled at the prospect. Ron had shown no jealousy, to his relief, and McGonagall returned his Firebolt in perfect condition.

Harry grinned on the thirty-first of August as he lied back on his bed after going over the final details of his and Ginny's plan.

This year was going to be interesting. He knew it.

XXXXX

_1st September 2003:_

It was breakfast when it happened.

"Urgh!" Paul Orenda and his twin brothers shuddered and cried, as though something had struck them through the heart.

But when they lifted their heads again, their eyes were bright.

"Can you feel it?" Paul asked them, as they nodded.

"He's returned. She's revealed it." Joseph Orenda murmured.

"We have to go." Jonah told the Order. "If what we think has happened, has happened…"

"Prepare for something dramatic to happen today…"

"She always had a flair for the dramatic."

The others stared in wonder as the three brothers high-tailed it out of Headquarters.

"What was that all about?" Ginny asked her parents.

Molly merely smiled. "I think hope is returning."

XXXXXX

Harry stared at the clock as they arrived on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. He frowned.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked him.

"Are we sure those are really your parents?" He asked her in a whisper, urgently.

"What? Why?" She demanded, sounding worried.

"We're early! Half an hour early!" Harry cried dramatically. "Those _cannot_ be the Weasleys!"

Mrs Weasley tutted. "Really, Harry, we are the Weasleys. It's just easier to get things done without the twins messing around, making everyone late…"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "I knew that."

"Besides, if you're early, it means you can get the best compartment." Remus grinned at him. "Right at the end…"

Harry and Ron grinned and raced to the end of the train, finding said compartment mercifully empty.

Harry looked around appreciatively. "Isn't this the one we shared with you in third-year, Remus?"

The man nodded. "Most people can't be bothered going to the end of the train, but we liked it for it's size."

"Yeah, you can fit more people in this one." Ron mused.

Ginny was staring at a wall. "There's something on here…"

Remus looked, and laughed. "We did that in our first-year."

In a 'square' diamond-shape was scratched the words 'Marauders' Compartment. Next to it with a plus sign was the word 'Enchanted' within a heart.

"Enchanted?"

"Our female counterparts. Your mum was one, Harry, and my Radella, and Alura…"

"Ah."

"Well, this is nice enough." Ginny grinned. "I think we can take this. Harry's got an inherited right, after all."

Remus grinned. "Alura and Damion's kids should be here soon as well. If you see them…"

"We'll be quite happy to invite them in." Harry assured him.

Remus nodded, and proceeded to wait on the platform as the others made their goodbyes. Remus was part of a protective force for Hogwarts, as was Tonks.

Harry grinned and stretched. "I'm going for a walk." He decided. "Get to look at the train when there's few people on board."

Neville nodded. "Enjoy. If you see Luna, invite her."

Harry gave a nod. "I was going to."

"I think I'll join you." Ginny decided.

As the two walked out of the compartment, the others frowned.

"They're up to something." Hermione concluded.

Ron snorted. "You think?"

Meanwhile, Ginny was giving Harry a mischievous look.

"You thinking what I think you're thinking?" She asked.

"Oh yes." Harry grinned. "Let the Phantoms begin."

The 'Phantoms' were a long-term prank the two had conceived during the holidays. If they timed it right, it would conclude right about Christmas. Originally, they were only going to use the one idea, but several others had intruded, so that the 'Phantoms' had a plethora to choose from, but one particular favourite. And they all had to link after all. Only certain things could have been chosen. And a request had been made from Fred and George.

"Thank Circe we mastered the spell." Ginny whispered.

"Yes, but the most fun will be had when we get to be the Phantoms." Harry grinned at her.

"Oh yes."

And so as they headed down the train, they began to plant one or two triggered spells. Some were short – the spell would only last from when a door opened to when it was closed. Others would last much longer. Yet others would come to life every time a door was opened, continuing a bit each time.

The pranksters smirked at each other in the knowledge that they were pulling a singularly original prank.

As Harry placed the last spell on the prefects' compartment, he grinned at his partner-in-crime.

"Done." He told his friend.

"Then we just need to activate them." Ginny told him.

"Later." Harry told her. "We need an audience to hear the very first 'haunting' of Hogwarts."

Ginny grinned. "With so many ghosts around, they're going to want to know what on earth is going on."

"Maybe, but if they hear enough…" Harry smirked. "Phantoms are different to ghosts, after all."

People were now getting onto the train.

"At eleven sharp." Harry told his friend. "We'll use a Disillusionment, and activate it. If you use your Voice a little so no one can tell where it comes from with Sonorus…"

Ginny nodded. "Perfect. Come on. We'd better get back to the compartment. Remind Ron and Hermione they need to be in the Prefects' Compartment."

"At the other end of the train."

"Exactly."

They smirked, looking forward to kicking off their prank, both silently wondering who they could bring in without ruining their finale.

The finale that, of course, would have two of their friends admitting their feelings for each other.

They ducked into their compartment a few minutes before eleven.

"You two might want to go." Harry pointed out. "Prefects' meeting."

"You don't mind, do you?" Hermione asked.

"Did I mind last year? No. Now scat." Harry grinned, plonking himself on a seat and his feet on the one Hermione had just vacated.

The older girl looked at him disapprovingly, but just sighed.

"We'll see you in a bit, come on, Ron." Hermione poked her other best friend in the ribs.

"Get off me, woman, I'm coming!" Ron cried. "See you later, Harry, Ginny, Nev."

"Later, Ron." Neville grinned.

As the door shut, Neville looked at the other two.

"What's going on? You did not just take a twenty-minute walk up and down the train." Neville fixed them with a beady eye.

"Well…" Harry mused.

Ginny just grinned evilly. "Can we bring him in, Harry? Make it a threesome?"

Neville choked, as Harry guffawed.

"Not like _that_, Neville!" Ginny complained. "Honestly, boys!"

"What did you expect, Ginny?" Harry asked. "We were gone that long, snogging is a possible conclusion."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Not _now_."

"Never mind. You sing, Neville?"

Neville went scarlet. "Erm, a bit…"

"Perfect. And you'll find what's happening as soon as we activate the Phantoms."

"The _whats_?"

"Well, we're currently working with my estimable partners to get the final aspects done, but the Phantoms will be at Hogwarts until the finale."

"Finale…" Neville mused. "Can I sing… Phantoms…" His eyes widened. "Oh, no, you can't – but – it's brilliant!"

"We thought so too. Everyone's going to be so confused. Some actual phantasms will be there, other times just the voices, and from a variety of things. Naturally they'll assume Muggle-borns, because of the origins, but there have been Muggle performances in Jamatic Alley." Ginny grinned. "The one thing Mum _likes_ about Dad's Muggle obsession."

Harry grinned. "The war's starting. We thought we'd bring a mystery to Hogwarts so everyone's got something else to worry about. And we've the tools and the spells to pull it off. Care to play a part?"

Neville's eyes widened. "Oh no, I'm not that good…"

"We'll decide that. Not all of the stuff gets set up today. We've got a trigger-release prepared for the Great Hall, and Ginny's power makes it easy to set of those on the train…"

"Speaking of…"

"It's eleven."

"Just jam the door and keep away from a window." Harry told her. "And the whistle…"

"_Sonorus_."

The whistle blew as the train began to move.

"_Anywhere you go, _

_Let me go too!_

_Love me…_

_That's all I ask…_

_Of…_

_You!_"

The music rang around the train, startling everyone, as the first high note seemed to match the train's whistle. Those on the platform looked confused as it reverberated around the outside as well.

The couple removed the spells, sat down, and gave a smug look.

"I think I'm going to enjoy this." Neville grinned at them.

XXXXX

Ten minutes later, they heard a squabble outside the door.

"It's not my fault we're late!" A boy's voice accused.

"Oh, and who decided he couldn't go to school without his hair products? You're worse than a girl!" An older girl's voice retorted.

"No, I'm not, _Lenie_."

"Yes, you are, _Orion Coel_." 'Lenie' snapped.

Harry froze. Something was so very familiar about that name. Lenie. Where had he heard it before?

Ginny pinched him. "Tonks mentioned a 'Lenie' a while ago. Kathryn Orenda's kid, I think."

Harry nodded. "We'll invite them in. If they knock, of course."

"Look, Mum said this is the largest compartment. If there're people in there, fine, but I'm sick of hulking this trunk around." The girl complained.

"Aww, is poor ickle Lenie all weak and tired?" The boy mocked.

"Orion, remember the time Mum accidentally set fire to your favourite shirt?"

"Yeah?"

"It wasn't Mum. And unless you want a repeat performance…" The threat was left hanging.

"Fine, fine. You gonna knock?"

"Gonna? Gonna? For Zeus' sake, Orion, speak correct English."

"What, until you slip into 'I've watched too many American TV shows' mode as well?"

"Exactly."

There was a knock on the compartment door.

"You can come in." Harry told them, his voice lazy. "Nice conversation."

The girl who entered blushed. "Uh, hi, thanks. We got on the train about a second before it left, so we haven't been able to find somewhere to sit."

She entered, dragging a trunk and a cage holding a barn owl inside. A younger boy holding his own trunk followed her. They both shoved their trunks into the luggage racks and sat down.

Harry observed them keenly. The girl possessed a remarkable likeness to the woman who had come to his house that nice over a month ago now. Dark blonde hair that curled around her shoulders, the exact colour of old brass, large, calf-like brown eyes, a fair, peaches and cream complexion. She was six inches taller than Ginny's petite five foot two, and slim without losing her curves. However, the mouth and chin were different, slightly squarer, and decisive rather than stubborn.

He gave a sidelong glance at Neville who was staring, and nudged him in the ribs. Neville averted his eyes. Harry admitted that it was hard not to stare, but rather wanted to know if he could get the girl's low-slung dark jeans and white tank top in Ginny's size. The younger girl would suit Muggle styles perfectly.

When Harry turned his attention to the boy, he stopped. Here was a near carbon copy of the Sirius he had seen in Snape's pensieve (or rather Dumbledore's pensieve that Snape had borrowed) the previous year. It was impossible that anyone else could be this boy's father unless Sirius had a twin. The boy's dark, glossy hair fell in his face with the same elegance, the grey eyes were equally deep, but held a cheerfulness and mischievousness that he'd not seen in the adult Sirius'. The eyes that were a Black family trait, he concluded, since he'd seen the cold, cruel version on Draco Malfoy. His skin was tan, his nose shorter than Sirius', and the chin rounder and stubborner. He also wasn't as tall, but better muscled.

"Hi." The girl grinned. "I'm Selene. _Not_ Lenie, if you value your life, as my brother clearly doesn't."

The boy grinned. "I'm Orion. My chief mission in life is to annoy the pants off my sister, especially in mixed company. Ow!"

Selene gave a smug grin, and rubbed her hand. "Serves you right. Why was I cursed with a little brother?"

"Swap you your little brother for my six big ones." Ginny suggested.

The girl's eyes widened. "And I thought one was bad."

"Ginny Weasley. You will not find out my real first name, unless the divulger is suicidal."

"Death by Ginny. Hmm, I can think of worse ways to go." Harry teased, then held out a hand. "Harry Potter."

Selene grinned and put on a high-pitched, over-excited voice. "Oh my God! It's Harry Potter! I simply _must_ get my knickers signed by him!"

"Please tell me you're stereotyping." Harry groaned.

"A little." Selene smirked.

"However, when the girls at school see what you've turned into…" Ginny gave him an appraising look.

"I'm going to a monastery. Someone, let me off the train!"

"Too late." Neville grinned. "Don't worry, Ron and Hermione will protect you."

"We'll put Hermione on the automatic _Hogwarts, A History_ regurgitate setting…" Ginny grinned.

"I'm telling her you said that." Harry shook his head.

"So, what year're you in?" Orion asked.

Selene rolled her eyes. "Orion, remember that Mum said Harry was born the day before I was? And Neville the day before him?"

"Yes?"

"Then what year do you think they're in, dumbo?"

"Same as you."

"Give the boy a gold star!"

"Selene, someday someone is going to shove a whetstone in your mouth to blunt your goddamn tongue." Orion threatened.

"I'll cope until then."

"Besides, I wanted to know what year the lovely redhead is in, and whether I might chance her company to classes."

"Sorry, squirt." Ginny grinned. "I'm in fifth-year. You've gotta be in fourth tops."

The boy nodded. "Alas, alack! I shall never love again."

"Yeah, according to Mum, that's what Dad said in his fifth-year over Diana Hall. Then Mum woke up."

"And started flirting with him. Are we _sure_ Mum's still sane?"

"No, but then I doubt Dad is either."

"Dad wasn't sane when he started school."

"True…"

"I think I'm doubting _your_ sanity, but never mind." Harry observed.

The siblings shrugged. "So, what was that singing before?"

Ginny shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe we'll find out at school."

"That, or Fred and George snuck on board." Harry grinned.

Neville shook his head at the pair's ease of deception.

"So," Selene looked at Neville, "you didn't give your name."

"But you guessed it with the birthdays." Neville pointed out. "Neville Longbottom at your service, milady."

Ginny and Harry exchanged raised eyebrows at the smooth introduction. Neville really _had_ changed. That or Selene was giving off some kind of pheromone he couldn't resist. Although if he fancied her, that was probably happening naturally.

"Well then, hello, Neville." Selene smiled lightly.

"Fred and George?" Orion wondered.

"My twin brothers. They run the joke shop in Diagon Alley – _Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes_." Ginny replied.

"We went in that place! It was awesome!" Orion grinned.

"So, who _are_ your parents?" Harry wanted to know.

"Well, we've never actually met Dad." Selene looked down. "He disappeared when I was little, and before Orion was born. We've been living with Mum and Auntie Anne and Peppy since we were small."

"Peppy?"

"House-elf. And her spouse and kids."

"House-elf kids?" Ginny asked. "What are they like?"

"Small, _really_ high-pitched. We grew up playing with them. They've got wonderful English now." Orion grinned.

"Your mum?" Neville asked.

"She said she was an Auror. Told us lots of stories about her and dad and their colleagues. Taid was an Auror too, killed in the First War."

"Taid?"

"It's Welsh for grandfather. North Wales Welsh, I think. Taid was Welsh, and Mum and her siblings grew up there, so Welsh titles. Except Avia. That was Latin, that Mum chose to use for _her_ grandmother." Selene explained.

"Your mother's Kathryn Orenda." Harry stated, slightly wondrous, slightly matter-of-factly.

Selene and Orion's heads shot up to stare at him.

"Damn, you're good." Orion stated.

"See, he's always being underestimated. I _told_ Mum he'd have found out by the end of the train ride, not to mention knowing who she is." Selene informed her brother.

Harry shrugged. "Simple deduction really. 'Specially since I heard Paul refer to his grandmother as Avia."

"Damn, done in by Ma's little brother." Orion groaned.

"'Rion, you know she hates that. It makes her feel old." Selene chided.

Her brother grinned. "S'why I do it. 'Sides, she's aged, what, twenty-seven at thirty-nine? She looks younger. _Someone_ has to remind her of her age."

Selene rolled her eyes. "Wait until we see Avia. She must be in her nineties now, looking forty-five."

Orion giggled. Harry looked confused. "Is wizarding aging really that slow?"

"Depends on the families and the amount of magic a person has. The Dumbledores are known for only aging maybe twenty years behind Muggles, but the Headmaster's over one hundred and fifty, looking in his seventies or so. Obviously, he has huge magical reserves."

"Oh."

"Don't worry, Harry." Ginny patted him on the arm. "You won't outlive your loved ones."

"Why not?"

"Because we'll take you with us."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes, you'll affix a self-destruct button, and when you die, you'll trigger it."

Ginny shook her head. "We'll just turn you into a god, and then you can pass from realm to realm."

"What? I don't think so."

Ginny giggled. "I thought so."

"So, what subjects are you taking?" Selene introduced a new topic.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration and Herbology. I wanted to take Potions, but Snape needs an O, and I got an E, and Auror Studies isn't on because they don't have a teacher."

"What?" Selene looked furious. "Why not? It's even more important now than ever! Couldn't the miserly government spare an Auror or two?"

Harry shook his head. "Amelia Bones tried, but there just isn't enough members. Any Aurors posted up here will not have time, and there's been so few recruits for the past five years that they just don't have the scope. That and Fudge's ridiculous laws that Bones is _still_ trying to clear up after. She's trying to get the werewolf legislation sorted before someone like Fenrir Greyback can lure more werewolves to Voldemort's cause. You can't stamp out vampires, but none of them are likely to work with Voldemort – he's too polluted in their eyes, and made the irredeemable crime of stealing another's blood."

"What?" Selene gasped.

"At his resurrection." Neville answered for Harry. "A dark ritual with blood, flesh and bone. Harry was the blood."

"Luckily, my blood will have disappeared by now." Harry grinned. "The bone marrow will have replaced it with flesh blood. The bone marrow from Tommy's delightful Muggle father. Hmm, does that make his blood Muggle blood now?" He mused. "Wait until he hears _that_!"

At this moment, there were several knocks on the door, and a blonde head shoved through the door.

"Mind if we join you?" She asked, her voice a mix of English and Yankee accents.

Harry looked around the compartment. There were five of them now. It was large enough to hold at least six more, and none of them appeared to have their luggage.

"Please, sit down." Harry smiled.

The blonde girl was followed in by two dark-haired boys, both of whom shared her dark brown eyes, and a boy and girl with light-brown, sun-streaked hair and lupine hazel-amber eyes.

"Hi." Harry grinned. "Harry Potter."

"Really?" The elder of the two dark-haired boys asked. "Cool. Dad said he'd met you."

"Well, duh, he's been living where the meetings are held." The blonde girl rolled her eyes.

"You are?" Ginny asked.

The elder dark-haired boy grinned. "Allow me. I'm Robert – Rob – Jackson, seventh-year, and eldest of this lot. This is my sister, Halimeda – no, Meda, no hitting me – Jackson, sixth-year." The blonde girl scowled. "And my younger brother, Andrew Jackson, fourth-year."

"Yay, someone's there with me!" Orion grinned, holding out a hand. "Orion the Mischievous at your service."

"Not the Hunter?" Andrew asked, his accent the same American-English mix.

"Nah, Harry's got that covered." Ginny teased.

"And these last two are twins, Conall and Tala White. Our parents adopted them when we were small. They're more like cousins who live with us than brother and sister."

"Family, but not the same. Uncle Damion's always had us as a niece and nephew. Our colouring's more like his." Conall held out a hand. His voice was not the same. It was odd, reminding Harry of howling wolves under the full moon, and distinctly English.

Tala interpreted the confused look that had flickered on Ginny's face (Harry had had too much extra training over the holidays to betray his thoughts). "We've got distinctly non-American accents – that's what's wrong?" She asked.

Ginny gave a nod. "It's a little odd…"

"We've never figured it out. But Uncle Damion told us that we could tell you – he was specific, mind – that we have been in his care partially because of our heritage. And while he didn't tell us what it is, we've been working on it since we were old enough to understand, and we think we know what they've been hiding."

Harry grinned. "They'll fit in here just right."

"Too right, they will." Neville guffawed. "At least last time you went on an adventure, you didn't end up in a Full-Body Bind."

Harry rolled his eyes. "We did say sorry, and it was important…"

"I know!"

"Anyway, we think we know why the Mysteries Department has always been on our case." Conall continued. "And Uncle Damion works for them. We're the offspring of two werewolves."

Harry froze. "You sure?"

"We're naturally able to turn into wolves, yet we keep our minds. We have the attitudes of wolves – pack, monogamy, hunting – and attributes – hearing, night-sight, senses, stamina. We're not contagious, and we figure we were born with the werewolf allele activated, rather than it being forced into the DNA strand by a bite. We can't pass it on."

"Allele?" Harry asked. "There's one in everyone's DNA?"

Tala nodded. "There are a series of alleles that feature in magical children that are not in Muggles. Even in Muggle-borns, where the parents' magical life signatures bind in the child to form a witch or wizard, causing an extension to the sex chromosomes that hold magic. Within the alleles are those coding for animagus, metamorphmagus, werewolf and various other similar talents. Some alleles are harmful, and inbreeding means problems like insanity can increase exponentially."

"A werewolf allele is dominant, and it can only be passed down to a child. However, children can only originally spring from bitten wolves. With them, both non-werewolf alleles are forcibly activated by magic, which causes other problems, forming the disaster of lycanthropy. Two bitten-werewolf parents can only produce born-werewolves because the dominant allele of the werewolf actually attacks the non-werewolf allele, destroying any embryo. They appear sterile, because no child can form beyond a few cells. Both werewolf alleles, however, fuse and merge, meaning that we are born naturally, without the aggressive nature of the wolf taking over other parts of the chromosome."

"You took biology, didn't you?" Ginny guessed, trying not to show that the entire explanation was shooting over her head.

"They teach it in America. Genetics is fascinating." Harry grinned, inadvertently revealing something else.

'_When did you find the time to study genetics, hmm, Potter?'_ She wondered.

"So basically, born-werewolves have to be born to two bitten-werewolf parents because of the aggressive nature and magic of the allele that causes lycanthropy in bitten-werewolves?" Harry asked. They nodded. "What about you?"

"The allele is stable in us, because we were born this way, and magic decreed it. We can have children normally, and they will probably have the same abilities."

"Homozygous natural lycanthropy." Harry mused.

"Exactly. Their grand-children have a half-chance of the same condition."

"Heterozygous dominant."

"Precisely."

"If you've finished with the genetics talk, can we get onto something more interesting?" Halimeda – or Meda as she insisted – asked.

Harry and the twins blushed. "Sorry."

"Quite alright." Rob grinned. "Meda gets the same way about Celtic history."

"Hey!"

Harry grinned. This was going to be an interesting trip.

XXXXX

A/N:

No points for guessing what I had been studying in particular when I wrote the last bit!

I turned eighteen at the beginning of the month. I now have my own laptop. Cool, huh? Gotta get used to it, though. And install a working version of Microsoft Office! I want Word! Works word processor is good, but awkward to save on.

Thanks to end of January module exams!

Lol, Tanydwr


	5. Chapter 5: Returning Faces

-1Left it right to the end of the month, haven't I? Oh well!

The chapter you've all been waiting for - they've returned! And the 'haunting' of Hogwarts goes off in style.

Sorting Hat's song is mine, and I have modified some brief lyrics from _Phantom of the Opera_, which was written by the magnificent Andrew Lloyd Webber.

You may want to listen to the Overture from Phantom of the Opera to get a good idea of what everyone sees when Kat and the others enter. Hopefully you can see what I saw!

Enjoy!

**Chapter 5: Returning Faces**

As they entered the Great Hall, Ginny and Harry swabbed something on the doorframe. No one noticed, as it seemed like a casual touch.

At the table, the girl sat next to him.

"You did it?" Ginny asked.

"Of course. I _know_ there's going to be something that happens." Harry grinned at her. "It'll activate the first time the doors are opened after the Sorting. I only hope it happens after the feast, or we're all going to get hungry."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Typical male, always thinking with his stomach."

Harry ignored her. "I wonder what houses the others are going to be in."

"Selene and Orion are Gryffindors if I ever met them." Ginny grinned. "The others – I don't know."

"The twins seem more Ravenclaw – they're incredibly smart." Hermione observed.

"But brave. And – is Remus looking at us funny, or is it just me?" Harry changed the subject, frowning as he gazed at his father's friend.

It was true, Remus was regarding all of them with a confused look, as though they were pieces to a puzzle he was struggling to understand.

"Charming." Ginny commented.

A few moments later, the first-years, plus the new students, arrived, the Sorting Hat seemed to sit innocently on the stool before the waiting school.

What warning would it give this year?

"_One thousand years or more ago,_

_Magic lay in disarray._

_Not all who could were taught,_

_And fear in hearts too easily lay._

_Yet there were those who sought_

_To end these dangerous times._

_Four great friends of whom I speak_

_Their gifts within my rhymes._

_Gryffindor, he led them all_

_With love and courage true._

_Ravenclaw, she helped along,_

_With discovering what to do._

_Hufflepuff, she kept hope alive_

_And toiled towards their goal._

_Slytherin, he planned it all,_

_With cunning rich within his soul._

_And for five years they worked hard_

_And with them Hogwarts grew._

_Until one day they'd finished,_

_And they searched for students true._

_But who were students true?_

_Who should learn their magic?_

_Alas, their opinions were split,_

_And began the crack so tragic._

_For Gryffindor chose the bravest,_

_Those selfless, chivalrous and true._

_Ravenclaw chose the brightest,_

_Keen minds looking for life too._

_Slytherin chose the ambitious,_

_The cunning who strove towards their goal._

_Hufflepuff loved all, but liked_

_Those who were loyal to the soul._

_But Slytherin's tastes got more refined,_

"_Impure blood," he claimed, "was rotten!_

_We lost so many to the Muggles,_

_Or have my friends forgotten?"_

"_Nay," called Gryffindor, _

"_But, my friend, we must_

_Not ignore their power,_

_And through this earn their trust."_

_Slytherin refused to budge, _

_And so the split grew wide._

_Cleaved through Hogwarts' heart,_

_This ever-growing divide._

_But those shall come to join them,_

_And prophecies come and go._

_Hufflepuff cried in turmoil,_

"_Oh save that child his woe!_

_For hard and cruel his life will be_

_Until his sixteenth year._

_Then miracles will begin,_

_And so many will shed a tear!"_

_Ask me not the child's name,_

_Nor the child's woe._

_But know this, Hogwarts School,_

_It is a boy you know._

_And yet another works with him_

_Fate's Alternate and yet,_

_A destiny of his own he has,_

_No longer can he forget._

_And a daughter of pure and magic line_

_With her brother shall come late._

_Wolves and fire, they bring,_

_The mother shall traverse the gate._

_Sixth and seventh make their mark,_

_As fourth and fifth have left._

_Helen's child shall complete the fold,_

_And help end Hogwarts' cleft._

_No longer can I sing to you,_

_The young ones must be parted._

_Remember no harm can come, _

_If you stay open-hearted."_

Everyone stared.

And several sharp intakes of breath were heard from the Gryffindor table and the students waiting to be Sorted.

Harry made a split decision. The trigger would have to be after the Sorting. This – this was too strange on top of it.

McGonagall began the list. It was not until she introduced the new students that he paid attention.

He focussed on Orion, who would be the first if his suspicions were correct.

"Black, Orion!"

Hermione, Ron and Neville stared in wonder, as did the other newcomers other than his sister. Ginny and Harry exchanged significant looks as people began whispering.

"Did she say Black?"

"As in Sirius Black?"

"Since when has he had a kid – surely that one's too old!"

"Didn't his wife and daughter disappear…"

"He was declared innocent."

Barely a second after touching his head, the Sorting Hat yelled out: "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry grinned. The boy was certainly Sirius' son. It would also help those who doubted the purity of his family's ideals.

McGonagall ignored them. "Jackson, Andrew."

The boy was sat on the stool for a minute before the Hat declared, "RAVENCLAW!"

He sighed and shrugged in Orion's direction. Orion just grinned at him, cheering.

McGonagall sighed at the over-exuberant Black. "And I thought one was bad."

"One what?" Selene asked, stepping up to her.

"One child of a Marauder."

"Oh. Well, now you have at least three." She grinned. "Be glad Mr Jackson wasn't an official one."

McGonagall sighed again.

"Black, Selene!"

There was a collective sigh from the boys as the blonde beauty stepped forward, putting on her most innocent face.

Orion snorted. "Wait until they realise she's got the Black temper."

"Black temper?"

"There was something Dad actually _did_ inherit from his mother. Lenie has the lungs to go with it." Orion explained.

Harry recalled the portrait. "Yeouch."

"Yup."

"GRYFFINDOR!" The Hat decreed after a few moments on Selene's head.

She smiled and headed down towards the Gryffindor table. She was cool and graceful, her robes spilling out nicely over her Muggle blouse and jeans.

"Jackson, Halimeda!"

This took much less time as the only female Jackson child was sent into Gryffindor.

The twins followed.

"White, Conall!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"White, Tala!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" The Hat roared again. Then it turned to McGonagall. "Are you sure that's their real name? They don't strike me as Whites."

McGonagall frowned. "That is what it says."

"Hmm, well, bring on the last, before the Hunter and Siren strike."

Everyone frowned, but assumed it was just a saying. Harry shot Ginny a wicked look, unnoticed by all except the Headmaster.

"Jackson, Robert!"

"Definitely GRYFFINDOR!" The Hat shouted, and Rob sat down beside Katie Bell, who blushed on noticing the sinful look her Seeker teammates (Harry and Ginny) shot her.

"She always did like them tall, dark and handsome." Harry murmured out of the corner of his mouth as Katie introduced herself.

"Not you then?" Ginny teased.

"Oh, I was a little short until last year." Harry grinned back.

Dumbledore now stood.

"Welcome, everyone, to a new year at Hogwarts. I hope you make our new students feel welcome. We will get into the details after the delicious feast our staff has so kindly prepared. Enjoy all!" He clapped and the feast appeared.

As it did so, a burst of music flashed through the Hall, and the candles flickered. Ghostly apparitions danced in and out of a wall, too flimsy to be real ghosts. Several of the students stood involuntarily, staring in fear.

Ginny pretended to be afflicted, as she gasped. "They're here! The phantoms of Hogwarts!"

Before McGonagall could reprimand the girl, those standing (a good mix of boys and girls, selected by touching their goblets first) began to sing.

"_Beneath the Hogwarts School,_

_We know they're there._

_Classrooms and dormitories,_

_They're everywhere!_

_And in this labyrinth,_

_Where time is blind,_

_The Phantoms of the Hogwarts School _

_Are there…_

_Inside our minds!_"

They sat down suddenly, like puppets whose strings had just been cut.

Everyone stared, looking fearful, while several Muggle-borns looked confused.

"Wasn't that…" Hermione began.

"Something like Phantom?" Harry responded. "Sounded like it. Actually, that was where that burst on the train was from."

"We've got a musicals curse?" Selene asked, a little loudly, as everyone grinned and began to eat.

"If not a curse, then someone's up to something." Hermione shot her best friends a challenging look.

"Who, us?" Harry and Ginny asked in unison innocence.

"Now I _know_ you had something to do with it." Hermione declared.

"Yeah, right." Harry snorted. "Hermione, we're pulling your leg. I mean, how could we have got anything into the food or pumpkin juice or whatever it was that triggered the singing?"

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, then closed it. She didn't know.

Harry and Ginny had procured the help of their friend Dobby to place the charm on the goblets, triggered by Dumbledore's calling of the feast, and the students' touch.

"Well, whoever or whatever it was, it was cool." Selene grinned.

Harry raised a brow. "Yes it was. Now, care to tell me if my assumption that Sirius Black was married to Kathryn Orenda is correct? She doesn't strike me as the kind to marry the Death Eater Regulus."

Orion and Selene grinned at each other. "Yes, Kathryn Orenda – or rather Kathryn Black is our mum."

"And my godmother." Harry mused. "Well, you learn something new everyday. There's more than one child of the Marauders."

Orion nodded. "So, what's your Marauder name?"

"Name? Don't have one." Harry shrugged. "Unless you consider 'Boy Who Lived' or 'Chosen One' nicknames."

"Nah, _way_ to obvious." Meda grinned. "How're you supposed to pull pranks if everyone knows who the culprit is?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm sure everyone figured out who the Marauders were after a while."

They nodded.

"So, how do you know of the Marauders?" Hermione asked.

"Mum and Dad told us. Mum was one of Enchanted – sort of the Gryffindor girls' equivalent. Only Neville's parents weren't in either group." Meda explained. "They always said Dad should've been a Gryffindor, and he should've been a Marauder."

Harry nodded, remembering what he had seen of Damion Jackson. "He'd've made a better one than Wormtail. Wormtail, who allows his friends' name for him to be used by the man who killed them."

"Yes, well, we've all agreed that Wormtail isn't the freshest ingredient in the store cupboard, so can we talk about something different?" Hermione asked. "What's wizarding America like? And does your dad really work for the Department of Mysteries?"

Robert grinned from down the table. "Wizarding America's got a lot more meshing between the Muggles and magical, but a lot less history. And Dad does work for the Department of Mysteries. It's an international corporation, with branches that semi-answer to the countries they're in. How you managed to break in here is disgraceful."

Harry nodded. "The Death Eaters disabled a bunch of the protections. And a lot of it was luck. The whole situation was strange…" His voice trailed off, and he looked at Selene and Orion. "I am sorry that my actions, in part, led to your father's death."

Selene shook her head. "Only Voldemort's actions. You weren't to know the vision was false."

Harry's head snapped up. "I never said anything about a vision."

Silence.

"Mum…" Orion began, then swallowed. "Mum knew everything that happened, sort of. When Voldemort put her in a coma, she dreamt a different, Muggle life in the future. There–" He gulped. "There she saw something of our future. In the form of highly popular Muggle books. The – the 'Harry Potter' series."

Harry stared at them. "W-what?"

"They focussed on you, Harry." Selene explained. "Your thoughts, feelings… She doesn't remember them all, obviously, but she remembered enough. And she didn't want to. She wanted to change everything. But the very power that Voldemort sought to stop – her visions – he couldn't. Only… In trying to stop her from gaining her power, he determined his own downfall. Because Mum knew what was going to happen. And she was determined to change everything as soon as she could."

"But that means…" Harry grabbed the girl's hand, feeling dizzy. "She knew? She knew all this time?"

"She was forced to protect a future she hated." Selene snarled. "For the 'greater good'."

"I'm starting to get sick of the 'greater good'." Harry growled.

"I think we all are."

Silence fell as everyone ate their meal.

"So, Harry, you and Ginny planning on giving us a rendition of _Phantom of the Opera_ to make everyone feel _really_ cursed?" Hermione asked archly.

Everyone burst into laughter.

XXXXX

It was the end of the meal, and Dumbledore stood to address the waiting students.

"Welcome everyone back to Hogwarts. As always, there are several announcements to be made, now that you are fed and watered. Firstly, first-years, newcomers, and older students who need reminding, no student may venture into the Forbidden Forest without express permission from myself or a teacher. It is more dangerous than ever before.

"Secondly, as you all may or may not know, Lord Voldemort has returned. For those first-years who do not, Voldemort is a particularly evil and dangerous wizard bent on foolish ideals of blood-purity."

"Which is ironic, considering he's a half-blood." Harry muttered loud enough for everyone around him to hear, thus sending the whisper spreading across the hall.

"Nevertheless, he is extremely dangerous, as are his followers, the Death Eaters. You can recognise them by white skull masks, black cloaks and a dark tattoo of a skull and a snake on their left forearm – the mark known as the Dark Mark."

Whispers again abounded, and Harry caught several first-years looking over at him to get a closer look.

"Thirdly, I would like to welcome several Aurors and Mr Remus Lupin back to Hogwarts as part of the reinstated Hogwarts' Guard. They will be watching out for unwelcome activity. For those who do not know, Mr Lupin is a werewolf, but he is also proof positive that the rumours about them are completely false. He is harmless during the full moon thanks to a treatment. He is also an expert on dark creatures, curses and objects, as he was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher three years ago. Along with him, I'd like to welcome Auror Shacklebolt, Auror Tonks, Auror Dawlish and Auror Laden."

Remus was sat at the table. They looked to see the tall, dark-skinned Kingsley grin at them, and Tonks, in a sedate, non-descript form, winked. Dawlish was as stern and imposing as ever – Harry _still_ didn't like him – and Laden was a stern, stocky woman in her late forties or early fifties, who, nevertheless, looked in her peak, yet somehow approachable.

"Lastly, I would like to explain about the status of Defence Against the Dark Arts this year."

Everyone snapped to attention.

"The subject will be taught –"

But he was interrupted by the slamming open of the Great Hall doors. The floating candles all went out suddenly, and the crashing chords and tune of the overture from _The Phantom of the Opera_ began to play.

The visitors found themselves unable to do anything except move to the music as they entered. They walked slowly in, in time with the music, looking almost menacing in their coloured cloaks that completely obscured their faces.

They seemed to enter in couples. Four of them. The woman of the first couple, cowled in a crimson cloak, flung her hands out. Several balls of fire launched from each hand to hit the first candles in the rows, then the flame bounced along in time with the music. Her partner, garbed in deep brown, took her hand and moved her to the side.

The second couple came forward. The emerald-cloaked woman let out a laugh and clapped her hands in glee as the air in the hall began to move. Again, her blue-garbed partner took her hand, but as he passed, every goblet's contents either boiled or turned to ice.

The next couple merely regarded the room. Their cloaks were both black, remarkably like Aurors' cloaks, complete with specific embroidery denoting abilities. The man took the woman's hand and guided her to where the others stood.

Remus suddenly leaned forward as the last pair came to view. They wore cloaks in the lime-green of St Mungo's Healers, and seemed less like partners compared to the others. Unnoticed but by those closest, the Whites' heads had shot up, their noses sniffing the air.

Harry stared at the group and, seemingly of his own volition, stood.

The music ended.

The new group were stood in front of the Head Table, facing the students, as Harry made his way towards them. Everyone, even the teachers, stared in wonder.

The group seemed almost fearful as the young man walked towards them. Most of the female population stared in lust, observing that the 'Boy Who Lived' fitted the name 'Chosen One' much better – because he was by means a boy any longer. His tall and leanly muscled form moved with the grace of a panther stalking its prey.

So no one was expecting the sudden move to rip off one of a woman's crimson cloak.

Large brown eyes peered into piercing green, strangely unobscured by his glasses. Long dark blonde hair on a five foot ten frame contrasted with short, messy black hair on Harry Potter's new six-foot frame. And thirty-nine-year-old woman looking twenty-five stared at sixteen-year-old man, who looked beyond his years.

Harry's voice was oddly unexpressionless. "Welcome back to Hogwarts, Mrs Black."

Silence.

Then the woman grinned. "Well, we always did know how to make an entrance." She looked at her godson. "Your work?"

"I believe it is the work of the Hogwarts phantoms." Harry replied neutrally.

"Phantoms, hmm? Well, gotta give credit. It works." She turned from Harry to the Head Table. "What, no hello?"

Snape had his wand out already. "You're dead."

She raised one blonde eyebrow, and began poking herself. "Nope, definitely feel alive. Why, don't want to believe I'm really here, Snivellus?"

"Kathryn?" Remus' broken voice asked.

"Yep, Remmie. Erm… you might want to sit down. All of you. We have a few surprises. And a story."

Harry stared at her. "You're going to tell the entire school a story?"

"Of course." Kathryn grinned at him. "You stay there. But sit down. Actually, kids? Whites, Neville, erm… anyone who's an Orenda kid, come here. But sit down."

"Oh, get on with it, Kathryn." The man stood next to her chortled.

And several heads turned to him, as Harry tackled him and yanked off the hood, his wand pointing at his head.

"Okay then, you're dead. No doubt about it. What did you give me at Christmas that I didn't open until _after_ you were dead?"

"You didn't open the mirror until June? Damn, that's a long time to wait for a Christmas present, Harry."

Harry punched his godfather, hauled him up, and hugged him fiercely. Everyone in the hall stared at the surprisingly young and handsome visage of Sirius Black.

"_You're dead_!" Snape growled.

"Snivellus, don't try it. That phrase is going to become old _really _soon." Sirius informed him cheerfully. He looked at Harry. "You've grown."

Harry shrugged. "You look good for a corpse."

"Okay, I deserved that."

"Sit down!" Kathryn yelled.

Sirius sat down meekly, while Harry stared at him. Sirius yanked him down.

"You don't argue with her." Sirius informed him in a mock-whisper. "Especially when she's trying to tell a story or pregnant."

"I'm not pregnant, Sirius." Kathryn stamped a foot.

Sirius looked at her. "Oh, do you want to remedy that problem?"

Kathryn went red and McGonagall groaned, lost her stoic demeanour, and began to bang her head on the table.

"That's Black alright." She moaned. "I thought I got rid of you."

Sirius grinned. "But we all love you _so much_, Minnie."

"I had enough of that while you were in school, don't think I won't put you in detention again, Black."

"Can I choose why?"

Harry groaned as his godmother turned pink again. "I don't want to know."

Sirius shot him a look. "Hey, it wasn't our fault. Lily and James would use their Head powers to kick everyone out of the decent spots so _they_ could snog. Anywhere else had Frank and Alice –" Neville went red, "Alura and Damion –" the Jacksons turned pink, "or Remus and Radella in. Not to mention all the other teenage couples." Remus was glowing. "So we had to put up with deserted corridors, that people _always_ seemed to manage to walk along at the worst time."

"I do not think our story was about the hormones of the 1980s." Kathryn informed her husband.

Sirius shrugged. "But their kids are here – it's much more fun."

Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Anyway, once upon a time there was a girl who was attacked by a bad wizard. She was the first of this wizard's true victims. Her name was Kathryn Orenda and she ended up in a coma for five years. In this coma, she lived a life in the future as a Muggle, reading books she believed to be fiction about a magical world and a boy named Harry Potter. When she woke up, she was in the time of Harry Potter's parents.

"Little did she – or they – know, but they held ancient magic in their veins. And it awoke when all four of them met. The Elemental Guardians had been reborn. They had to save as many as they could, and they had to protect the future so that the evil wizard could be destroyed forever.

"But when Fire and Earth fell in love, a curse was activated. They would marry, love, have children, but then they would be torn apart by death, lies and despair. Earth's _mother_ activated the curse – the Curse of Kali."

Hermione drew in breath abruptly.

"It is a curse placed on souls and blood. And one Hallowe'en, history repeated itself for our souls and for others. For Water and Air were also reincarnated, and they were to face evil once more, be betrayed by a friend once more, and only their child would survive the night. The same night, the curse activated, and Fire was forced to leave those she loved to preserve a future she hated.

"But the Elemental Guardians are special. Until all lie dead, none can truly die. And Fire went in search of the Temple that would let her snatch her loved ones from the netherworld and grant them their lives back.

"So when Earth was killed, and she found the final component, Fire snatched the bodies of Water and Air and entered the room that held the weakest point between the various worlds. She snatched her husband's body back, and called forth their souls. She cleared her husband's name.

"Air had had a power that had been growing at the time of her death. In limbo, she had learnt it and honed it. So more loved ones could be saved.

"They entered St Mungo's."

Stifled breaths. Neville, Poppy and Remus stared, hope in their eyes.

"They took those who survived with broken minds. They restructured their minds and freed them from their imprisonment. And then all waited. They had to learn to function again.

"And now they have. And now they can be reunited."

The hoods were pulled down.

With a howl, Remus vaulted over the Head Table to fling himself at a smiling Radella, capturing her in his arms. The school matron shocked everyone by flowing into the man beside Radella's arms – Janyd Orenda, while his nieces and nephew stared. Neville cried with his parents, Orion and Selene buried themselves in their father's arms.

But Harry…

He stared at his parents, barely believing it was real. They let him approach them slowly, knowing that it was harder on him than anyone.

He reached out a tremulous hand to touch them… and found solid flesh.

"You – you're here. You're real?" He gasped in wonder.

"Oh, Harry!" Lily cried.

Harry knew that voice – had heard it screaming at Voldemort to spare him.

"We're real." James assured him.

And that voice – telling his mother to take him and go.

And Harry flung himself into his parents' arms hiding the tears that flowed from his eyes.

Snape sneered from the Head Table, furious at the sight of the Marauders back. He was going to have to be careful.

Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, had no such compunctions. "Oh, look at that, Potty crying over his Mudblood mother and traitor father."

Lily and James were shocked that in a second, Harry had whipped around and flung a curse at Malfoy. Malfoy strained against the bonds of liquid fire that pinned him to the wall.

"If you remember, Malfoy, it was comments like that that resulted in your nose being broken and my supposedly lifetime ban from Quidditch." Harry snarled. "Umbridge had no authority to hand me a lifetime ban. We will wipe the pitch with you this year. But I will not let you, or anyone, insult my family in my hearing again. You can chat on about your father all you want, but do you know what?

"Your father has no authority here. He is a Death Eater. I have _seen_ him bow down to Voldemort's scrawny half-blood arse, and seen him scream under the Cruciatus Curse. Unlike your dear Aunt Bellatrix, he doesn't get high from it, but then he's not quite as insane as Bellatrix Lestrange. Your father is nothing, Malfoy. He has never worked in his life, and depends on bribes to get him out of anywhere.

"Guess what? I have a father now. But I don't depend on him, my mother, my 'criminal' godfather, my unknown godmother or my friend the 'werewolf' to do anything to you. I can do it myself.

"If you were worth my time."

With that, he released Malfoy and turned his back.

A curse was thrown at it, and Harry responded in kind.

A pure white ferret appeared.

"I learned from Alastor Moody this summer. Apparently, you still need a lesson in fighting honourably."

But Harry ignored the ferret, and turned slowly towards his parents.

James was grinning, Sirius was grinning, Kathryn was grinning, and Lily was trying to look disapproving, but failing at the grateful and proud look in her eyes.

"Mr Potter?" Dumbledore called out.

"Yes, Headmaster?" Harry turned politely, with a half-bow.

"If you could please untransfigure Mr Malfoy, we do have a feast to continue with." Dumbledore explained, his eyes twinkling.

"Certainly, Headmaster." And with a careless flick of his wand, Malfoy was human again.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor!" Snape yelled.

McGonagall's eyes narrowed. "Fifty points to Gryffindor for an exceptional piece of transfiguration and a non-harmful response to a cowardly attack."

"Potter insulted him unfairly!"

"Potter told the truth and responded to Malfoy's original attack on his parents. I should think this is a joyous day. The return of two of St Mungo's best healers and six of Alastor Moody's personal Auror recruits."

It was at this point Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped forward. "Excuse me, sir, ma'am, but we should verify their identities first." He turned to the newcomers. "Not that we doubt you, but with Voldemort around…"

"We'd have Moody string you up if you didn't check." James grinned. "Fire away, young Shacklebolt. Hi, Andrea."

"It's Laden to you, Potter." The stern woman gave a smile, taking out a small vial. "S'pose it ought to be Black first, then we can give him his pardon officially as well."

Sirius nodded, and a chair was brought forward.

Hermione looked at Ron and Ginny. "This is insane!"

"Yeah, but interesting. Nothing around here – or Harry – is ever normal, is it?" Ron grinned.

Three drops of Veritiserum, and Sirius' eyes were glassy. He'd been stunned and unstunned to ensure effectiveness – in a normal state, it couldn't affect someone as strong-minded as him. Despite Snape's comments, even in fourth-year, Harry would have been able to withstand its effects on the most important things.

"What is your name?"

"Sirius Calhoun Black."

"Your occupation?"

"Auror."

"Who was the Potters' Secret Keeper?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

"What is the name of your wife?"

"Kathryn Farrah Black, née Orenda."

Now Kingsley asked a question. "Who did the _Quibbler_ claim you really were?"

"Stubby Boardman, and there's no way I'd be some other woman's house when I have such a wonderful wife."

"Nice save." Kathryn grinned. "But I'd just left."

"What happened in August 1986?" Laden asked.

"Kathryn, Radella and I were kidnapped and held by Voldemort for more than three days. We were tortured for information and for Kat's visions."

"That's enough." Remus stated. "It's him alright."

Next was Kathryn.

"Your name?"

"Kathryn Farrah Black, née Orenda."

"Occupation?"

"Ex-Auror, full time mother, researcher."

"Where have you been since Hallowe'en 1988?"

"I have been travelling through various countries, searching for ancient temples."

"And why did you leave?"

"I knew I had to preserve this future, however bad it was, if I did not, I could make it worse."

"Your child's name?"

"Children."

"What?"

"I have two."

"Their names?"

"Selene Rhiannon Black and Orion Coel Black."

"When was the boy born?"

"Twenty-first of June, 1989. He was conceived a month or so before Voldemort's first downfall."

"That's enough."

And so it went on. All of them were questioned, and all of them answered.

It was as they were questioning Radella last that something interesting came up.

"What do you remember of your insanity?"

"Pain. At first I fought through the pain and something helped me survive. Then… it was gone. Like I'd expelled what helped me."

"Do you have any idea what this could have been?"

Radella's eyes glowed amber suddenly. "Cubs."

Remus' head shot up and his eyes also changed. Both sniffed the air.

The Whites stood up and ran towards them.

"Are you?" Tala asked.

"Is it possible?" Conall wanted to know.

Remus looked at them, and let out something between a howl, growl and whine, then grasped them to him. Radella broke through the Veritiserum to launch herself at the group.

Ron stood up, and pointed his wand at Malfoy, who looked ready to comment.

"Try it, Malfoy." Ron begged, his eyes alight. "I dare you."

Wisely, the boy stayed silent.

Dumbledore smiled. "Today has been a day of wonder, for so many families have been rejoined. However, I never finished my announcements."

"Professor Dumbledore, Kathryn and I would like to take the Defence position, if you please." Sirius explained.

"And Lily and I the Auror Studies position." James added. "We'll swap around on occasion so nothing gets too boring."

"With the Marauders as teachers? Not likely." Ron snorted from the Gryffindor table.

James, Remus and Sirius bowed. "We thank you for your excellent taste, young Weasley."

"You ought to." Kathryn informed James. "That's your Harry's best friend."

"Even better." James grinned.

"Until we can get back to work and have everything sorted, we'd like to stay at Hogwarts if possible." Frank explained, gesturing to himself, his wife, Jack and Radella.

"Of course, you can have all the time you need." Dumbledore nodded. "Now then, since we now have teachers for Auror Studies, those of you in Sixth-year who wish to take it, may. And now, I suggest you all get to bed, and get plenty of rest for your lessons tomorrow."

As everyone left, it was young Emma Dobbs, Kathryn and Jack's niece, who made a comment.

"Hey, did you know Auntie Adalia's getting married?"

XXXXX

A/N:

Not a cliffhanger ending, but fun all the same.

Hope you enjoyed, please review, and smile.

I've also posted up a one-shot, _Rejection_, that you might enjoy.

I'm a great Star Wars fan, and I've recently embarked on several fics, two of which are big Alternative Universes. I'm considering posting up _Dark Queen and White Knight_ on a sporadic basis until I have the first major section finished. The summary is:

_The Force decides to change things, and uses the Queen to do it. In a new timeline, the Queen is the apprentice, the Apprentice becomes a prisoner, and the Master still rules. But the Rebellion has spies it doesn't even know about, and the children of the Chosen One are spared…_

That's probably going into the second story - the first is mainly to about the point that Luke and Leia are born. The second is about the Rebellion and the 'Darths'. The third story would be a Luke/Leia time story. Subject to change, obviously, but I've written a prologue through Chapter 4. Tell me what you think, or would you like a one-shot for the universe (or Star Wars) first?

Not dependent on my marvellous reviewers, but I'd like to know what you think. Big AUs are fun.

Oh, and to those of you who are religious, Happy Shrove Tuesday and good luck with Lent (I normally give up chocolate, but I have too much in my room this year)! To those of you who aren't, Happy Pancake Day! And to those of you who are Welsh or have Welsh roots, like myself, Happy St. David's Day for tomorrow, the 1st March!

Sorry about the long note, but I love you all, and want your opinion!

Lol, Tanydwr

P.S. Do not love flamers. They can go and dance round fires in woods for all I care, and get caught for indecent exposure. Or suffer _from_ exposure. One or the other!


	6. Chapter 6: First day

I'm posting on the last day of each month now – it's just easier.

This chapter contains a few unbelievable bits, but I just thought they were funny. Muggle chemistry and potions…

Oh, and I'm posting up the first chapter of my Star Wars AU _Dark Queen and White Knight_ as well. That'll probably be monthly as well, depending on how fast I write.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 6: First day**

_2nd September 2003:_

A yell of pain pierced the air of the Sixth-year Gryffindor dormitories. All but one of the five other boys sighed, knowing what was happening. Conall White - or Lupin as he would soon be and actually was - did not.

"What the…?" He began.

Ron and Neville were out of bed.

"Harry!" Ron grabbed the dark-haired lad's thrashing arms. "Harry!"

Harry thrashed in the bed, yelling, in pain or grief, they didn't know. Whatever it was, it was bad.

He shot up in bed, nearly taking out his two friends, his voice guttural and tired.

"His fury matches no bounds as he sees history repeating itself once more." He stated. Ron was activating a coin nearby. Conall flinched as he saw Harry's eyes burn with an unnatural green fire. "The Warriors have sprung from the Guardians, and as Zaran was defeated by the orphaned Potter, so Voldemort fears the strength of one no-longer orphaned."

The sixteen-year-old then collapsed back onto the bed, breathing heavily.

"Harry, I thought we decided you weren't a Seer." Ron frowned.

Harry groaned. "I'm not. Just some presence that talked through me – probably a remnant of the vision." His eyes snapped open again. "We need to see Dumbledore."

"What's wrong?"

"What do you think?"

"Oh."

Dean and Seamus looked at each other, then regarded the four awake teens.

"We're gonna take the extra ten minutes sleep." Dean told them.

Harry nodded. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll wake up in time. McGonagall's harsh if you're late on the first day."

XXXXX

_Dumbledore's office:_

"You had another dream? Was this Voldemort again?" Dumbledore asked.

"I don't know." Harry responded. "It didn't feel like -" he gulped, remembering what his last vision had led to, "it didn't feel like last time. And there were loads of flashing images, and something about the past being repeated, and some mysterious omnipresence."

Ron looked surprised at Harry's use of the word, while Conall looked impressed.

"Anything specific?"

"I know that Voldemort's heard about what happened last night and he's even more pissed off than when he lost the prophecy." Harry responded cheekily.

"Yes, they were rather a thorn in his side." Dumbledore mused. "And he would not care to see his work undone so easily."

"'Work'. What a charming way to term murder and torture." Neville snarled.

"Very much so." Dumbledore agreed. "But then Voldemort is not a stable man."

"His dad was a Muggle, but his mother had to have been wizarding stock, and old." Harry mused. "Too much inbreeding?"

"Very much so. His mother was a Gaunt, a family known for having a decidedly mad streak resulting from marrying their cousins, and pride in their heritage. Merope - his mother - had a weak magic, but was a capable enough witch. She probably used a potion to make the handsome Tom Riddle fall for her. He left her when she removed it…"

"She was in love with him, and hoped he loved her?" Ron asked.

"Precisely. However, she had been the filthy daughter of the family of mad tramps in the village, and not particularly pretty. He left her, and her son lived in an orphanage."

"So we've got a child who's inherited his family's magic and madness, but the magic has been granted a new lease of life by the infusion of fresh, non-magical blood. Tie that to Slytherin's abilities that were probably enhanced by the fresh bloodline…" Harry groaned. "We have an insane wizard with insane power, and the looks and intelligence to hide the insanity."

Conall stared at Harry. "You really like genetics, don't you?"

Harry grinned. "They have a branch in the Department of Mysteries studying the effects of magic and blood inheritance. Due to a lack of Muggle blood, many of the older lines are dying out." He shrugged. "Simple enough to remedy. Marry a Muggle-born, have them take your name if you're female or keep it yourself and name a child for it, then have lots of kids and set up a second house from the male spouse's original name. That's if you want to keep a social hierarchy including effectively aristocrats." He frowned. "It could work, but only if you limit their powers, or make them responsible for the setting up of new houses and tutoring Muggle-borns on wizarding ways. That way, Muggle-borns learn of the traditions of the wizarding world and wizards learn of the Muggle world." He smirked. "Half the recent great inventions have come from those who lived in the Muggle world."

"Harry, you have had way too much time to think on your hands."

He shrugged. "No homework to do at the Dursleys, so I started planning the restructuring of wizarding society." He smirked. "Maybe Trelawney was accurate and I really will become Minister for Magic and have twelve children after I get Voldemort. In which case, I need to start working on my manifesto now. There's so many flaws."

"While debating bloodlines and the flaws of wizarding society is interesting, I believe you were speaking of a vision, Harry?" Dumbledore interrupted.

"Oh yeah. Well, I had a few glimpses into Voldemort's mind during it, but it was like walking through a long corridor with open doors and seeing things before they snap shut than anything else. Killing his father and grandparents, performing some sickening ritual using the blood of three girls, torturing people…" He gulped. "That monster has destroyed more lives than I'd care to count, more indirectly than directly. How are people supposed to cope with the loss of a child or spouse? Worse, how are they supposed to cope with the mental and physical after-effects of torture? I even saw some of his ideals and dreams… He wants to be a king, with a superior race, the rest slaving after them." Harry groaned. "He's like Hitler, but perhaps even more twisted, if that's possible."

Dumbledore looked grim. "Unfortunately, men like Voldemort and Hitler have always existed, though not all of them gain such power. As long as people stand against them, they cannot and must not win."

Harry nodded. "It wasn't like a normal vision, but… It was something. And I think he was planning something. Big. An attack perhaps. And it'll be significant of something."

"A holiday or commemoration. Voldemort always had a habit of using such things to spread panic and fear among the masses." Dumbledore sighed. "Thank you, Harry, boys. Now I suggest you run along to breakfast and prepare for the school day."

They nodded, knowing a dismissal when they heard one.

When they had left, Dumbledore sighed again, and looked into a mirror.

"Alastor, your protégé has had another dream, though different to usual. We need a list of likely places and dates that Voldemort will attack with significance."

"I'm coming anyway, Albus." The ex-Auror grinned wickedly. "I thought I'd make sure my recruits are up to scratch on their training."

XXXXX

The boys arrived to breakfast later than usual and, in true male fashion, began to make short work of the remaining food.

"We waited for you, you know." Hermione informed them disapprovingly, wrinkling her nose as Ron shovelled eggs into his mouth. "Wasn't until Seamus and Dean came down that they told us you'd gone already. Where were you?"

"Headmaster." Harry replied, and took a bite of sausage. He grinned. He'd missed Hogwarts food.

"And?" Ginny prompted.

"And what?" Harry replied maddeningly.

Ginny gave a very descriptive account of what she'd do to him if he didn't elaborate immediately. Harry merely raised a brow.

"Is that all? My dear Ginevra, you're getting soft. Anyway, I had a dream - different to normal. Snake-breath's planning something big."

"Snake-breath?" Selene asked, her eyes wide. "Dear Circe, you're as bad as Mum!"

Harry grinned. "And I don't even know her." Then he considered. "Well, she's got a great right-hook. Sent Uncle Vernon right to the ground…"

"Oh, Kathryn, tell me you didn't antagonise my sister and her husband further!" A female voice spoke behind them.

The teens saw the new professors walking nearby, towards the table.

"No. I just repaid Vernon in kind." Kathryn replied sharply. "Lily, it's not like _they're_ human. They're sub-normal. I mean, that house was so clean it made even _me_ want to throw up."

"The neat-freak's complaining about 'too clean'?" James joked. "Is that possible?"

"You go to Aunt Petunia's." Harry advised. "It's possible. I think she uses hospital disinfectant. Not nice on your hands." He grimaced.

Lily looked about ready to say something, but was stopped by a prod in the ribs.

"Come on, we need to eat. We've got to teach classes - somehow, and Moony still won't lend us the plans he made when he was here." Sirius sighed. "Too busy sha-"

A hand clapped over his mouth.

Lily gave him a sharp look. "Minerva _will_ put you in detention again, Sirius Calhoun Black. For that matter, _I'll_ put you in detention if you use language or imagery like that in front of students."

Kathryn snorted inelegantly. "Lily, he offered to rectify the 'problem' of my _not_ being pregnant in front of the entire hall last night. He's not going to change."

"Then you have to remember how to use the female behavioural modifier then, won't you, Mystique?" Lily teased.

"And at times like that, you live up to your name, Medea."

"Oh, please, like I'd poison anyone."

"You were an Auror."

"And?"

The students - their children in particular - stared.

"Scared yet?" Selene asked Harry.

"Yep."

"Good, you're learning."

XXXXX

Due to only a few students reaching the required O for the Potions NEWT course, Snape had been forced to open it up to those with high Es. This meant Ron and Harry were both eligible for the course. It was just as well, because Moody had been drilling them in potions as part of their training. Neville, on the other hand, had elected self-study in order to take the Potions NEWT.

With Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Herbology on top of Potions, Harry was loathe to choose another as well, but the lure of Auror Studies was too great, and too useful for him not to take. He'd just have to be careful with six choices.

Neville had also chosen Auror Studies. Charms, Herbology and Defence were his other options - his transfiguration mark was not good, and he felt he'd be better playing to his strengths, as Professor McGonagall advised. Ron had dropped Herbology in order to take Auror Studies. Hermione was taking the 'core' subjects (Charms, Potions, Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts) with Herbology, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. She was not cut out for a career as an Auror, but she'd already had some speculative interest from the Association of Magical Research, an institution that Selene's aunt - Adalia - belonged to.

Selene had picked the same as Harry, while the White - truly Lupin - twins chose the Core subjects plus Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. Harry breathed a silent sigh of relief at the fact that there was _someone_ taking Hagrid's class, since the Trio could not fit it into their schedules. Halimeda Jackson had taken Transfiguration, Charms, Defence, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Astronomy - she was very interested in ancient and celestial magics, and was angling for a career in her father's department.

Their first subject was Potions, and Snape surprised the attendees by being a lot less severe, but a lot more stern, if it was possible. They were not to muck around, or play pranks. The chemicals they would be dealing with were dangerous, which set Harry's mind whirling on a tangent. The word 'chemicals' - could Muggle chemistry and magical potions be combined at all? The principles were the same…

"Potter, since you see fit not to pay attention, care to inform the class what is so fascinating a thought?"

"I was just wondering what the effects would be of mixing Muggle chemicals like hydrochloric acid or potassium would be with potions. It would depend entirely on the potion and effect, and certain chemicals would be poisonous…" Then he froze, his eyes wide. "Dear Merlin, are we so stupid as that?"

"Potter!"

"Silver nitrate. Silver, but in a compound to weaken it, the nitrate is acidic… Of course, you'd have to try mixing it with aconite…"

"Potter, are you…" Then Snape understood. "Potter, make some notes, then concentrate on the lesson. I'll see you at the end of the lesson."

Everyone else, except Hermione, was confused, but Harry and Snape may have just had the first breakthrough in lycanthropy prevention and cure since the Wolfsbane.

XXXXX

"What did he want to talk to you about?" Ron asked as they headed to their first Defence class.

"Well, first he made a lot of sarcastic comments about my family being back, and that he would not tolerate pranks in the classroom - as though I'm that stupid - and then demanded to know everything about silver nitrate. I don't know a lot, so I recommended he get some Muggle chemistry books, and suggested he find the nearest WHSmith's."

"Oh, Harry!"

"Don't worry, I wasn't _really_ that rude. Just think, we may have found a new relief for werewolves, if we're right. Maybe Snape'll finally get that fame he's so desperate for." He scowled.

"It would be great if he could relieve the symptoms of lycanthropy." Conall smiled. "But what if it caused damage in the natural balance? All creatures are there for a reason."

"Then we may find a similar occurrence to Muggle-borns. Spontaneous born-werewolves."

Harry snorted. "That'd be fun. Imagine how the purebloods would react to their kid being born a werewolf?"

"Not well at all." Ron agreed, shuddering slightly.

Selene stopped outside the Defence room door, with a little worry on her face.

"What is it?" Neville asked, confused.

"I'm just praying that they don't decide to replay history and greet the Sixth-years the same way their teachers did." Selene wrung her hands.

"Which was?" Harry asked.

"Professor Johnson had Miss Kestrel bent over his desk." A voice behind them informed them.

Harry's wand was in his hand before he realised it, then he stared at the newcomer, and then his wand, as if wondering how it got there.

"Nice reflexes." James approved, smirking at his son.

"Oh, uh…" Harry coloured.

"Bloody hell, Harry, how'd you get that fast?" Ron demanded. "You were only half that speed a few days ago."

Harry shrugged. "The wrist holster helps."

"Always does." James approved.

Hermione looked at the Potters meekly. "Um, professors, aren't you teaching Auror Studies?"

"It's an elective - we've only got one class. No one took it last year. We're offering the Seventh-years some extra general help. But we're here to help your Black professors."

Selene groaned at the pun.

"Please, don't. Orion's bad enough…" She moaned.

Lily grinned. "You're lucky. Remember what I have for a sister."

Hermione finally opened the door.

Rather than being caught in a clinch like Professor Johnson and Miss Kestrel in their Sixth-year, Kathryn and Sirius were fixing some damage to the classroom to the astonishment of the students as they filed in.

Lily and James joined them at the front.

"Take a seat everyone." Kathryn ordered.

"Where?" Sirius asked.

"To the Chamber of Secrets." Kathryn replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, why did I marry you?"

"My spectacular good looks?" Sirius suggested. "My witty and humorous conversation? My adorable and lovable personality?"

Kathryn shook her head, then smiled brightly as she remembered. "I remember now, your mother cursed us."

Sirius looked grumpy. "My mother _is not_ the reason we got together."

"Of course not. We got together because we're soulmates and destined to be together. Your mother just decided to activate the Curse of Kali, crazy old bat." Kathryn nodded, fixing the last of the damage.

"What happened?" Lily asked.

"We just had the second-years. Kat got cross when she realised how much they knew." Sirius replied.

"Which was?"

"Absolutely, bloody nothing." Kat stormed. "That imbecilic _toad_ didn't even teach them how to recognise a vampire from a werewolf! She just shot her mouth off with her pathetic prejudices and taught them absolutely nothing!"

Harry smirked.

Then Kat calmed down, an evil smile featuring on her face.

"Kat?" Sirius asked, warily.

"We're going to do Amelia a favour and get that toad out of her government." Kat scanned the students, who were watching, some with interest, others with confusion. "Susan Bones? Tell your aunt that there will soon be a letter on her desk citing the removal of Dolores Umbridge from government and incarceration in Azkaban for child abuse, abuse of authority, attempted use of an Unforgivable, and several counts of attempted murder."

Several of the students blanched.

"Let her also know that if Dolores Umbridge does not go to Azkaban, I will find Fenrir Greyback and offer her to him as a meal."

Everyone froze with fear.

Kathryn smiled brightly.

"Now, onto more fun things. I'm Professor Kathryn Black, formerly Auror Kathryn Orenda Black, and an Auror within the Department of Mysteries. Yes, I'm the Kathryn Orenda who was the first 'official' victim of Voldemort who ended up in a coma for five years. Yes, I'm married to Sirius Black, your other professor. No, I was not intimidated, killed, hurt or otherwise harmed when I disappeared, unless you count the fact that Sirius had knocked me up about six weeks before."

"Kathryn." Sirius groaned.

She grinned at him. "I know your lessons have been sporadic at best. Quirrell was an imbecile with Voldemort stuck in his head, Lockhart was a narcissistic fraud, Remus actually taught you something, thank Circe, Moody was actually a Death Eater impostor, Barty Crouch Junior, but at least he taught you something, and Umbitch didn't teach anything." Now she smirked and looked directly at Harry. "Some of you demanded teaching from someone who actually knew what he was talking about."

Sirius now took over. "Before Kat frightens you all away, I'd like to say something. I did not betray Lily and James Potter. I'm Harry's godfather, so I wasn't intending to kill him in your third year either. I apologise to the Gryffindors for terrifying you all. I was actually after Peter Pettigrew, who truly betrayed the Potters.

"I did not kill him. I tracked him down, fully intent on bringing him to justice one way or another. Before I could do anything, he shouted out that I'd betrayed Lily and James, blown up the street, cut off his finger and turned into a rat to escape. I was left, shocked by the fact that he had beaten us, betrayed us. His best friends, the skilled, well known Aurors, weredestroyed by his hand. That is why I laughed. Because I was in shock."

"Never did handle shock well, did you, Sirius?" James smirked.

"At least I didn't faint when I found out my wife was pregnant."

"I didn't faint!"

Kathryn giggled. "That's not the way Lily tells it."

Harry buried his face in his hands, suddenly realising that his parents would be acting the age they were when they died - in their mid-twenties.

"Have you been telling tales about me, Lily?"

"Not the time, James. Kat and Sirius have a class to teach, remember?" Lily dug her way out of a hole she'd created several years before.

"Don't worry, Lily." Kat smirked. "Sirius fainted when I told him he had a fourteen-year-old son after I brought you back."

"And that brings us onto the topic of this lesson." Sirius rounded the conversation off. "Why we're back, and what we're fighting. Today's going to be non-practical, I'm afraid."

"Except for this moment." Kat interrupted, her face gleeful. "Did you all bring your book from last year?"

There were groans as they pulled them out.

"Okay. I want you to place the book on the table in front of you." Kathryn instructed.

They obeyed, sighing.

"Take out your wands."

They did so, now confused.

"And chant '_incendio_'. Don't worry about the desks." She giggled. "They're fire-proof."

Harry gleefully hit the book with a ball of flame, while Selene merely looked at hers for it to flame, then stared at it in shock (her mother had bought her a copy to share in the exercise). Hermione obeyed - scarily enough - a look of satisfaction on her face as though that was all she thought the book was worth.

"Now, with that done, put your wands away, and we'll have a little history lesson." Sirius stated.

More groans.

"You can make notes if you want, but it isn't vital. However, this is information you need to know." Sirius continued.

"All fours of us lived through the first war against Voldemort. All of us fought him, met him, spoke to him, defied him. The Longbottoms also did. Radella was turned into a werewolf and tortured to insanity by him, as was my brother, Janyd - Jack. You'll find him with Madam Pomfrey, being assured that she never moved on." Kat got a speculative look. "Madam Pomfrey'll be Madam Orenda by the end of the month, I'm sure."

"Voldemort is not the wizard's original name or identity." Sirius informed them. "Some of you will recognise his true identity. You may even have polished his trophy."

"Lord Voldemort was born Tom Marvolo Riddle, a half-blood descended from the Slytherin Gaunt family by his mother. His father was a Muggle, tricked into marrying her by magic." Kathryn informed them.

There was near uproar, and everyone was shocked, but for those who already knew.

"Tom Riddle inherited the Slytherin ability of Parseltongue and the Gaunt streak of insanity owing to their habit of marrying their own cousins. Inbreeding causes a build up of inherited flaws, and does _not_ increase magic." Sirius grinned. "Actually, Tom Riddle was powerful because of the influx of fresh blood from his father - it magnified his power, rather than diluting it."

"Any pureblood will deny this, but it is true." Kathryn informed them gravely. "Marrying only purebloods will spell the end for wizarding society. The Department of Mysteries have a research team still trying to work out why we lost the abilities of ages past. But I can tell you something.

"Witches and wizards are lazy. Most of them use magic for everything. They fail to acknowledge the fact that Muggles have created ways to do as much harm as we. A bullet will kill, an electric chair produces torment like the Cruciatus, an atomic bomb can wipe out a city for generations. Purebloods aren't superior to Muggle-borns. They're scared of the power Muggles wield.

"Almost all new inventions have come from people who lived in Muggle society in some way. And the purebloods have forgotten their old duty - that of introducing Muggle-borns to the wizarding world and sponsoring them, helping them, tutoring them, until they can set up a house of their own."

Harry nodded, and made a note on a piece of paper he had titled jokingly 'My Mandate for Ministry'.

"Voldemort was aware of the power of Muggles. But he was also fully aware of his own abilities. He had a mean streak as a child, and would attack others. He grew up in a Muggle orphanage and never felt he had what he deserved." Sirius continued. "Personally, I think it was a swift kick up the backside, but that's me. He grew to hate and despise Muggles, and his Muggle heritage, hiding his identity and creating a new name as he began to attack and impose his views on the wizarding world. By using violence."

"Should've used the Ministry." Hermione muttered. "That's how Palpatine got control."

Kat grinned as she looked at Hermione. "Never would have thought you for a Star Wars fan, Miss Granger."

Hermione turned scarlet.

"However, she has just made a good point. Had Tom Riddle gone into politics, he would have undoubtedly succeeded. He was a skilled orator and liar. Had he done so, we could have compared him to Hitler even more easily."

Kathryn noticed a shudder race throughout the room. Even purebloods had heard of Hitler.

"Voldemort chose guerrilla warfare instead, and it has not worked well. Wizards don't have a standing army, so guerrilla tactics do not succeed so easily. But he has killed many, and ended many lines of the purebloods he claims he wishes to promote. The Crouches, the Prewetts, the McKinnons… The Boneses are reduced to Miss Bones and her aunt. The Blacks were nearly destroyed altogether, but for the fact that I was pregnant with a son. Some may be revived. The Prewetts if one of the Weasleys takes on their mother's name." Ron stared. "The Boneses if Miss Bones chooses to maintain her name on marriage and name her son that."

"Voldemort is not championing any pureblood cause." Sirius informed them gravely. "He is championing his own - of total control over the wizarding world."

"That's not true!" Someone muttered from the back.

"Oh believe me, it is." Kathryn responded. "Voldemort is a megalomaniac. But all we need is to stand up to him, to note run in fear, and we will survive."

Sirius continued. "Throughout this term we will be introducing you to the spells, potions and devices you will come across in these dark times and in life in general. You've all had reasonable teaching on the Unforgivables – ought to have, it was a Death Eater teaching you – but there are other Dark spells that are just as bad."

"But today," Kathryn smiled brightly, "You're going to have the option of questioning four Aurors who lived through the first war." Then she frowned. "Well, two of us died in it as well…"

"Not helpful, Kathryn." James informed her.

Kathryn shrugged. "I've enough brothers without you pretending to be one, James Potter."

James frowned then nodded, counting. "Jack, Jonah, Joseph and Paul. Huh, Paul doesn't fit the pattern."

Kat flung a fireball at him, which he quenched with water.

"First question, how did we do that?" Sirius asked. "We're the Elemental Guardians."

"That's pure myth!" Hermione argued.

Harry gave a snort. "So was the Chamber of Secrets, remember?"

Lily and James' eyes grew wide. "Chamber of Secrets?"

Lily looked at Kat accusingly. "Missed something, did we?"

Kat shrugged. "It was more important to make sure nothing got left behind. Besides, we had minds to restructure and a basic knowledge of what happened to return, remember?"

"You are not getting out of this that easily, Mrs Black." Lily responded.

Kat shrugged. "We assure you, we are not myth. Before anyone else asks, I control fire, Sirius - er, Professor Black - earth, Professor Lily Potter air and Professor James Potter water. We have some wandless abilities as well, of the kind that have been lost over the centuries."

The class stared.

Harry's hand went up. "So, how did you bring them back?"

Kat looked a little sheepish. "Had to find some ancient temples, erm, snatch your parents' bodies from their graves, break into the Department of Mysteries, find the Death chamber and sort out a few things using the Veil. Oh and some elemental jewels."

Harry nodded. "Didn't happen to be in a box at my aunt's house, did they?" Kat's eyes widened in answer and Harry grinned, before announcing to the rest of the class, "Be careful, she's got a mean right hook."

"I'll say." Sirius muttered.

"Next question?" Kat asked quickly.

"Curse of Kali?"

"Blood and reincarnation curse meaning that our souls are forced to separate and be tormented in each new life. Luckily, that's been broken." Kathryn smirked.

"What was the first war like?" Conall asked.

The professors' faces hardened.

It was James who spoke. "We won't sugarcoat it. The first war was bloody, brutal and cruel. Voldemort kidnapped schoolgirls and bled them for rituals. His Death Eaters tortured, murdered, raped and destroyed Muggles and enemies for fun. Sirius and Kat were tortured for information. Minds were broken. Radella was turned into a werewolf. Bombs containing dried korrehn were thrown and Voldemort liked to mark holidays with attacks. It was a dangerous, dreadful time to live through."

"Life was hard." Kathryn continued. "Those of us who were high profile were under constant threat, and we lived with as many wards on our homes as possible. Lily and James were convinced to leave to protect their loved ones by use of spells and guilt. Families were broken, lives destroyed, and hope crumbled each day. But we worked through it. We fought as hard as we could against darkness, because we wanted our children to have a better life than us." She sighed. "Never wanting you to go through what we did in Hogwarts and beyond."

Sirius looked at her and then looked at the waiting class. "No one knew who to trust. We told everyone that I was the Potters' Secret Keeper, and then swapped it to Peter Pettigrew. We never knew he was a spy and even the Ministry was too harsh to even do a simple questioning."

"They probably felt betrayed." James pointed out. "They thought one of their top Aurors had betrayed them and his best friends. His wife and child had disappeared… The evidence was too damning."

Kathryn looked down, then at the students. "In war, you don't get to do what you want. I was literally forced to leave by my ability to see the future, because I was forbidden to change it. Never forget that magic is a force that we can harness, but never control. It is larger and more powerful than any of us can imagine."

Harry watched his parents and godparents carefully as they continued to speak about the war, and wondered if the pain of war was an inherited trait.

XXXXX

The afternoon had gone quickly, and it was now that Harry and his friends - including his new ones - approached the teachers' quarters.

"Goodness me, what a lot of you!" The portrait the Marauders' Map identified as guarding the teachers' wing exclaimed.

Harry smiled at the lady in the picture. "Lady Cordelia."

The woman smiled. "Oh, you know my name. What are so many of you students doing here?"

"_Revanata_." Harry replied with the password.

Lady Cordelia's eyes widened, and she swung open. "Very well."

The teacher's wing, on opening, looked to be a series of corridors. Harry knew that the Heads of Houses had their own rooms near their students, and this was preserved for visitors and teachers of the other subjects. However, he also knew that his parents and godparents and whoever else had arrived had also 'taken over' the top floor.

"Upstairs then." Hermione observed.

Harry nodded and the group walked up a winding staircase.

They finally arrived outside the last door that barred them from the adults who held the answers to their many questions.

Harry took in a deep breath, suffusing himself with calm and tranquillity, lest he become irrational. He did not want his parents to believe he was a spoiled, whiny brat like Snape claimed. Though if they knew Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, that was unlikely to be a problem.

They were guarded by a portrait that held a majestic stag, black dog, rearing wolf and a flying black owl around the top, sides and base. In the centre was a forest clearing, a full moon in a night sky and four nymphs dancing around a burning fire. Each was different - one redhead, one dark blonde, one ash blonde and one brunette. Harry wondered who had painted it.

"Rebirth." He told the portrait.

One of the nymphs turned away from dancing to look at him, and walked forward, a hand resting on the stag's head. She was redheaded and green-eyed, and they suddenly realised who the nymphs represented.

"Yes, you are permitted, child."

Harry raised a brow at the term 'child' and the portrait swung open.

The group stepped inside.

There was a large group of adults inside. Sirius and Kathryn shared an armchair beside the fire, and Lily and James were snuggled on a sofa opposite. Remus and Damion Jackson were playing chess, Radella and Alura leaning over the backs of their chairs to watch. All of the Orendas were there, including Leila Dobbs, whom Harry had not met, and Adalia, the sister who was getting married. Bill Weasley was chatting to Paul Orenda, and both were swapping stories with the Orenda twins, who were being looked at with admiration by the Weasley twins. Mr and Mrs Weasley were sat on the other end of the sofa to Lily and James, deep in discussion, while the Longbottoms sat looking out onto the Hogwarts grounds beside a window, chatting occasionally with Madam Pomfrey and Jack Orenda. Tonks sat chatting to Moody, and Dumbledore and McGonagall were sat in a corner.

Everyone was there.

Harry, as the designated 'leader', cleared his throat and an eerie silence fell.

"Hmm, I thought it was me with the power of Voice, Harry." Ginny commented.

"No, Harry just has that power McGonagall and Snape do, holding everyone quiet with no effort. 'Cept sometimes in the DA last year."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm sixteen, not a teacher." He looked at the adults around. "Didn't know _everyone_ was going to be here."

"You all need to know." Kathryn Black stated, her dark eyes seeming to blaze with inner fire. Once again, Harry was struck by the similarities between her and her daughter.

Orion Black looked at his mother. "Can we say hi first? You and Dad pretty much disappeared yesterday, and we didn't have time for anything other than a hug."

"Why couldn't we see you during the holidays?"

"Getting over death is hard." Kathryn replied. "Particularly _being_ dead."

"Well, you could always grind your enemies to dust with a sledgehammer, but, gosh, that's been done already." Selene quipped.

"I knew introducing you to _Buffy_ was a bad idea." Kathryn shook her head.

"You were quoting it before even the _film_ was made." Lily pointed out.

Kathryn shrugged.

"Besides, a sledgehammer would be too nice for old Tommy." Harry commented. "Maybe we should give him a taste of his own medicine."

"Hmm, using a diary to suck out his life-force has amazing possibilities." Ginny mused.

Harry shook his head. "I was thinking more along the lines of turning him into a vampire and waiting for the sun to rise whilst he's attached to a cross."

That was dark. And worrying from a young man like Harry.

"Sorry." He responded. "That sort of thing comes from spending too much time in ol' Voldie's head and training with Moody all summer."

"Alastor…" Lily's voice was warning.

Moody shrugged. "S'too nice for that glorified Death Eater if you ask me." He grunted.

"Why were we hidden?" Tala asked suddenly, looking at Remus and Radella.

"I didn't even know." Remus replied. "I couldn't sense it, nobody told me…"

"You weren't in my vision." Kathryn responded. "You had to be safe, you had to be somewhere else, and my vision didn't have you at Hogwarts. Remus was grieving and in no state to care for you, and Damion and Alura - who were your godparents proclaimed at your Blessing - left for America. Plus I knew Fudge was going to get into power along with Umbitch." Kathryn gave an unholy grin of glee. "Oh, I can't wait to hear her squeal."

"Blood quills have been illegal for fifty years, Harry, except when signing legal documents." His father informed him, his voice stern. "They should _only_ be used in terms of irrevocable contracts, such as wills. What the woman could have done with that much blood of yours…"

Horror dawned on Harry's face as he realised what had happened. He knew of blood rituals. Gods, if Umbridge had decided to use his blood…

"We'll need to find every scrap of paper." Tonks informed him. "Your blood is too powerful, Harry."

"Why?"

"Well, you're a Potter. That's just to start."

Harry sighed. "There are things I don't understand. About my heritage, my family… But I think there is one question in everyone's minds." He looked at Kathryn, his eyes burning with green fire.

"How did you bring them back?"

XXXXX

A/N:

Well, what do you think? Too much complaining on behalf of the Guardians? Too little talk about the new kids? More details?

Kathryn's explanations of bringing them back in the next chapter.

And Harry's comment about WHSmith's is a homage to the nice people who pay me to work on Sundays. Of course, I'm still not sure putting me on the book counter was a good idea… It'd be like having Ron work in a sweetshop…

If any of you are Star Wars fans, please have a look at my AU, _Dark Queen and White Knight._ I'd like to see what you think.

Please review, I'll post at the end of April – yay, most coursework done and Drama exam over. But oh, revision! Still, I'll try and set time aside for writing – and focus on revising in my free periods.

Lol, Tanydwr


	7. Chapter 7: Beyond the Veil

Sorry this is a day later, I completely forgot!

Happy May Day – and Beltain to those that celebrate.

Hope this is adequate!

**Chapter 7: Beyond the Veil**

Kathryn gave a sigh and stared into the fire for a moment.

"Before I answer that, exactly how much do you know about the past?"

"We know that you fell into a coma when you were eleven and woke up five years later." Hermione began. "You were officially counted as the first victim of Voldemort's rise to power. You call your grandmother Avia and something that is tied to your family was 'revealed' today. You had visions of the future – specifically Harry's – during the coma in the form of fictional stories. As such, you know most of what has happened to Harry over the past five years. You have had other visions as well. You were kidnapped by Voldemort with Sirius one time. You seem to have some ability with fire that your daughter inherited. You're married to Sirius. You have several siblings – you rival the Weasleys for size. Umm…"

"You've got a mean right hook." Harry told her, raising a brow. "You left something with Petunia and demanded it back – a box of some sort. You were practising the 'hiding in plain sight' theory. You were a best friend of my parents, and obviously Sirius' wife. You pulled some pranks on Petunia, which _she_ classes as evil." He suddenly shot a look at his mother. "Are you aware that she's a few knives short of an arsenal?"

"Always has been." Lily sighed.

"Interesting metaphor." Remus observed.

"Comes from spending the summer with Moody." Harry turned his attention back to his godmother. "I know that you're my godmother – and Neville's? You can shape-shift, practice self-transfiguration and you can cast illusions that even Tonks couldn't see through…"

"In other words, you've spent the summer trying to gather as much intelligence as possible since you saw me at the Dursleys." Kathryn finished.

Harry nodded. "Pretty much. Having Paul around helped."

"Good boy." James grinned.

"James, your son was practically spying to get the information." Kathryn complained.

"Kathryn, you turned up at his home and punched his uncle. Though from what I know of Vernon Dursley, Harry probably wanted to thank you."

"Oh yeah. The look on his face made up for the cupboard." Harry grinned.

"Cupboard?" Lily questioned, her voice urgent.

"Um, nothing." Harry looked down.

"What cupboard?" James demanded.

"Harry, did I ever mention that the Potter tendency towards bad tempers comes from the fact that they all inherit their redheaded mothers'?" Sirius asked, edging away from his friend slightly. "And you inherited _both_ James and Lily's tempers?"

Kathryn blanched slightly. "Holy… I didn't know it was that bad."

Ginny sniggered. "Harry could give Mrs Black a run for her mother."

"Hey!" Kathryn protested.

"Your mother-in-law."

"Oh. That damned portrait?" Kathryn asked. "She's _still_ there?"

"Oh yeah." Moody stated. "Can't get the damn thing off."

"We need to do something about her." Kathryn told her husband authoritively. "Maybe I should just set fire to her."

"My pleasure." Sirius grinned wolfishly. "Shame you didn't do it when she was alive."

"If I didn't know you, I'd think you were a sadist." James informed him.

"But since you do know him…" Harry began.

"You know he is." Ginny finished.

"You're finishing each other's sentences." Remus gaped. "That is not a good sign."

"Why?"

"Well, other than the fact that it was a major signal of both Kat and Sirius, and James and Lily getting together…"

Harry turned slightly pale. "Why is everyone comparing us to my parents?"

James shook his head. "Don't worry. It happened to me too, just a bit less. Until we got into the Auror Squad."

"No, then you were just Harold Potter's pest." Lily grinned.

"I love you too, Lily." James grumbled.

"I know."

"Anyway, if we can get back on track?" Kathryn asked. Her friends just smirked.

"What happened?" Harry asked again.

"I'll give a brief explanation to start with. My coma included a long-term vision, through the medium of books, of the past five years – roughly, I suspect there are a few small differences. I knew that I would _have_ to enforce that future – Fate has a nasty way of catching up on you if you disobey her.

"When I woke up, I met the others, and we became friends. The boys were the Marauders, and we girls were known as Enchanted. Shortly into the term, James, Lily, Sirius and I discovered that we had some unusual abilities… we found that we were – are – the Elemental Guardians."

"Really?" Hermione asked, eyes wide. "There's been only a few recordings – they're thought to be pure myth."

"Oh no, the powers were real enough. Along with a power over an element, we developed certain wandless abilities – certain spells we could do wandlessly, teleportation, telekinesis, molecular stasis and combustion, shape-shifting, group telepathy, empathy, and suchlike. Just before that Christmas, we received a box from a shopkeeper with four jewels. The jewels signify our life-forces and tie us to this realm until all four of us die. If we died a violent death, or a death of unnatural causes, we could be resurrected as long as there was at least one of us still alive."

"You." Harry stated.

"Me. The four of us – along with Frank and Alice – got into Auror training, though Lily and James fled and trained abroad for two years after being tricked by Voldemort on the night Sirius and I were betrothed." She shot a glare at her friends. "Ruined our announcement, that did. Voldemort began attacking more and more often, and even after they returned, it was little eased by two more Aurors. However, then the vigilantes known as the Elementals appeared. Our alter-egos when our abilities took us fully over. Fire Star, Wind Flower, Water Stag and Diamond Earth. We sensed the danger and the elementals sent us to help others. We got married the summer following Bloody Summer."

The adults and wizard-raised shuddered.

"Bloody Summer?" Harry enquired.

"1985." Ron replied. "Regarded as very nearly the most brutal period of Voldemort's rise. Mum had just had the twins. She got caught in the Hogsmeade attack that Hallowe'en."

Kathryn nodded. "That summer hosted the most attacks, the most kidnappings, the most danger. But it was by no means the worst." Her eyes clouded. "In 1986, Jack and Radella were kidnapped. Jack was tortured by seeing Radella turned into a werewolf and trapped within those memories and his own mind by the Cruciatus. Radella escaped with him the next day. She had been covered with some strange spell that did not allow us to detect her lycanthropy. The following full moon, again while Remus was out of commission, she was kidnapped, along with Sirius and myself. Radella was tortured with Cruciatus during her first transformation. She lost her mind." Kathryn sighed. "Sirius and I were tortured for information and for fun. They wanted my visions…"

"And so she gave them a prophecy." Sirius recalled. "What was it?"

"Oh, some made up thing due to a rather unimportant vision. I just jazzed it up a bit." Kathryn shrugged. "I don't really recall, everything's jumbled and blurred from then…"

"Probably a good thing." James told them. "Neither of you was in a good state when we got you."

They both shuddered.

"Anyway, the following Hallowe'en marked no attacks from Voldemort, so we celebrated. Nine months later, Neville, Harry and Selene appeared…"

"Mum!" Selene whined. "I did not need to hear about 'celebrations'."

Kathryn grinned wickedly. "Why not? After all, you and Orion didn't exactly get dropped off by the stork…"

"Leave us with our delusions… Please?" Orion begged.

"Very well. My parents were killed a month or so later, and I sealed up Magic's Haven. Hmm, I think that may have unsealed automatically…"

"We felt it. It's in the process of." Paul responded. "It's taking it's time. You better hope Avia's still alive."

Kathryn winced. "Thank Circe for magic, eh?" She laughed nervously. "Anyway, it was for its protection. Jack's sane now, and going to marry Poppy soon – probably this twenty-first – so he can have lots of heirs and we don't need top worry about it."

"Kathryn!" Jack blushed scarlet.

"Aww, I didn't know I could still get my big brother to blush." Kat smirked.

"Get on with the story." He growled.

"Touchy. Well, the next year was dreadful. The Order was being targeted. We lost the McKinnons, the Prewetts, the Bones…" She sighed. "Still, the Prewetts took out five before they died, and tough ones at that." She smiled at Molly. "I know it's hard, but it _is_ good to see their nephews fighting for them and their family." Molly nodded. "That Hallowe'en it all happened. Pettigrew squealed, Voldemort killed Lily and James and got vaporised by Harry, Sirius went to check on them, and I took Selene and left. I hated that…" She looked down, sorrowfully. "Sirius tracked down Peter, Peter betrayed him further and escaped, and I checked on Harry and made sure that the Elemental Jewels stayed under the blood wards, protected by those who hated the magic they held.

"Over the next fourteen years we survived. I had Peppy to help, and I gave birth within that circle of standing stones near Magic's Haven – I made the mistake of taking a walk. A young woman helped me – Anne Black."

"Black?" Harry asked.

"Coincidence. Anyway, she travelled with me, as the children's aunt – we claimed she was my sister-in-law. I used the name Black most of the time. After all, if you had betrayed me, I'd use any name but. There's so many spellings of Kathryn, it was easy enough to pick a new version. I travelled searching for the Elemental Temples, searching for the rites to bring them back."

"What about Sirius?" Harry demanded.

"I couldn't do anything. Don't you see, Harry? I was forced to maintain a timeline I hated. But it was the only way to ensure Voldemort did not win." She sighed.

"And the Department of Mysteries?"

"That was this summer. I robbed Lily and James' graves – sorry about that, guys – because I needed a physical anchor for their spirits. I left a pensieve with memories to clear Sirius in the DMLE, and headed into the Department of Mysteries. I had been attached to them as an Auror owing to my visions - particularly involved in the prophecy department and general security. My retina scan still got me in - dreadful that is, the department broken in to twice in as many months.

"Once there, I headed to the Veil Room for the ritual."

"And…"

Kathryn cast her mind back to that fateful night and began to speak.

XXXXX _Flashback_ XXXXX

_Breaking into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to plant the pensieve had been painfully easy – was that what the Aurors had come to in fifteen years of peace? She remembered when they had been the elite, topped only by the little-known Department of Magical Intelligence, hidden by the Department of Mysteries._

_She was equally shocked to realise that they had not updated the protections on the Department of Mysteries either, despite the summers' earlier break-ins and the news of an Unspeakable spy in Augustus Rookwood._

_She submitted to the vocal and retina scans and was easily cleared._

"_Welcome to the Department of Mysteries, Unspeakable-Auror Black. Please state your destination."_

_She entered and spoke clearly. "The Death Chamber."_

_The chamber spun, and a single door opened. Stealing her breath, Kathryn Black entered the Death Chamber, with the Veil of Death. She recalled news of it being used as an execution device and swallowed bile at the thought that her husband had gone through. She flicked her wand at the door, locking and silencing it._

_Silently, she incanted a spell, and two bodies appearing, swathed in black. Lily and James Potter appeared to be sleeping, and, as Elemental Guardians, they essentially were. Their souls could not pass on, and therefore the tiniest connection remained to their bodies. Bodies that were in as perfect condition now as the moment they died. The faces reminded Kathryn how they had died – James' face in fury and fear, Lily's in anguish and sorrow. She tore her gaze away from her friends' corpses and focussed her wand on the Veil, ignoring the voices calling out to her to free them._

"Accio_ Sirius Black's body." Kathryn incanted, pointing her wand directly through the Veil._

_Seconds later, the heavy – but still shockingly thin – body of her husband crashed into her, completely lifeless. She fell under the weight, and sat up, caressing his cheek for a moment. She set her shoulders in a resolute posture and dragged Sirius' body towards those of Lily and James. Then she arranged the bodies. Sirius' to north, Lily's to east, James' to west._

_She took two tiny boxes from her pocket and walked over to a workbench, her heels clopping eerily on the stone. Two taps of her wand returned the boxes to their normal size, and she drew breath slowly again to calm her raging nerves._

_Tonight she was going to defy Voldemort and fulfil prophecy._

_Tonight she was going to raise the dead._

_The first box was of a dark, hard wood, decorated with Celtic knotwork and a golden lock. Kathryn drew her necklace from her neck and slid off a gold key, unlocking the box, then returned both to her neck. She flipped open the lid._

_Inside the box sat four large jewels on smooth, shining satin. Three glowed with an unnatural light – her friends' life-forces. Only the ruby – her own jewel – remained dark._

_However, there was a change. There were six more jewels inside, smaller, stranger, at each side of the box. A blood-red garnet, a rose quartz, a tiger's eye on one side. Opposite, amber, carnelian, and haematite. Her hand hovered over them, confused, curious, but she pushed that feeling aside._

_She had a job to do._

_She took the emerald, sapphire and diamond from the box and placed each on the chests of Lily, James and Sirius respectively. Then she opened the second box._

_Three bowls were removed. A bowl of earth went north, above Sirius' body. A bowl of burning incense, for air, was placed to the east, beside Lily. A bowl of water sat beside James, in the west. _

_Kathryn next pulled out two bags of herbs and a bottle of oil. She took the first and tore off one corner to allow a trickle of the green leaves pour through as she walked in a circle._

"_Anemone for health, protection, healing."_ _ She incanted with the first herb, closing the circle. She took the next. "Arabic gum, to purify the negative magic and evil." And the last, the oil. "Peppermint. To purify us, to let us love, to heal us. To reconnect our minds, to awaken them from their sleep."_

_She returned to her work bench, and removed the ruby from the box, then a crimson bowl holding oil. She placed the oil inside the circle, to the south. Finally she removed a decorated, old knife – some would term it an athame – and transformed her black clothing into light, crimson robes. Barefoot, her hair loose, she stepped over the circle, holding the ruby in her hands, and sat cross-legged before the rest of the circle. This ritual had its basis in many cultures, but the Celtic druids had held many elements close._

"_Earth, Guardian of the North, I beseech thy help to save thy son." She incanted. A flash of white magic passed around the circle._

"_Air, Warden of the East, I solicit thy aid to save thy daughter." She murmured. This time, there was a flash of emerald green magic in the circle of herbs and oil._

"_Water, Custodian of the West, I request thy assistance to save thy son." She spoke, the magic flashing sapphire blue._

_With a wave of her hand she lit the oil in the bowl before her. "Fire, Protector of the South, thy daughter begs your support to save thy siblings' children."_

_A moment passed._

_Then crimson magic flared and a dome of all four colours formed over the circle. Kathryn's eyes burned with crimson fire as she stared at the Veil of Death directly opposite her._

"_Death, I call thee, come and attend the Guardian of Fire!" She commanded._

_Seconds later, a white-garbed female holding a lit candle stepped out of the Veil of Death._

"_**Who are you**?" Death requested, her voice terrible, but bright. "**My master is curious as to why one would call someone back from the Veil when so many have been willingly placed through.**"_

"_I make an offering of blood." Kathryn spoke, slashing her palm with the athame. "In order to request the return of my companions' souls to their bodies. Their souls are held in limbo – they are unable to go either way. I beg of you, as the rituals have stated, as magic herself has declared it so, permit them to return and live their lives once more."_

"_**Why should my master and I permit this?**"_

"_Because many have passed into your realm before it is time, due to the evils of Tom Marvolo Riddle, the self-proclaimed Lord Voldemort. By returning the souls to their bodies, as you pledged long ago, we hope to restore balance and end the war on even terms."_

"_**You will kill your enemies?**"_

"_In war, one has no choice. But by no means will we kill willingly. Prophecy has stated their return. Magic has stated their return. I beg for their return. They will save their son and teach him."_

"_**He is not the only one to need teaching. For the successors come, once more, from their predecessors.**" Death murmured, her dark eyes far away. "**You protected the world as you could, protected the lines, protected them. But it is they who must fight this war. It is they who will change the course of the world forever, one way or another.**"_

_Death fell silent and Kathryn dared not press the goddess. That was what Death was. A goddess, but a servant to the Lord of the Underworld, Hades and his queen, Persephone. Of course, they had many names, many different beliefs but they were essentially the same._

"_**My master permits it. But you must set your spirit free to retrieve them.**" Death warned her. "**Do not pass one hour, for once that time is broken, you remain in the Underworld and your body dies.**"_

"_I am willing to take that risk."_

"_**I know.**"_

_Kathryn felt a tug, and found herself standing before her now-prone body._

"_**Follow, if you wish to retrieve them.**"_

_Kathryn obeyed, and her spirit entered the Veil behind Death. As they passed through, the candle in the goddess's hand disappeared, exchanged for a scythe. Kathryn's eyebrows rose. Were they both tools of separating the soul from the body?_

_They passed through idyllic villa-dotted countryside, flaming pits of pain and torment, crystalline pools of calm tranquillity, shadowy fields of wandering souls, the screams of evil, the laughter of good. Finally, they approached a locked door. Death waved a hand and the door opened._

_The occupants turned away from a pool that was the only feature of the rough, stone cave, to gaze at the visitors. Their eyes widened as she entered._

"_No…" The redheaded woman – Lily – murmured. "Kat, you're not dead! You can't be!"_

"_No, I'm not. I'm here to return you to life."_

"_Is that possible?" James asked. "We could meet Harry?"_

"_It is. It is what I've been searching for all these years." She noted that Sirius would not meet her eyes and sighed. She could hardly expect him to just forgive her, or even understand. She turned to Death. "And now?"_

_Death smirked. "**Now you play Orpheus.**"_

_Kat rolled her eyes. "Oldest trick in the book. Because human curiosity is too strong not to check. But I will do it."_

"_**I have no doubt.**" Death smiled, and opened the door, waving Kathryn out. She looked at the other three Elemental Guardians. "**Follow her for the chance to live life once more.**"_

_They did so._

_The temptation to look back to make sure her friends had followed was unbearable, but she had faith in them. They would follow._

_They had to._

_It seemed like seconds before she found herself walking out of the Veil and back into the Death Chamber._

_She smiled, swallowed and stepped back into her body._

_Her eyes snapped open and launched her body up. The dome of light had disappeared and her friends' bodies all lay still. For a second she was terrified that they had not followed…_

_Gasp!_

_Sirius drew in breath sharply, his eyes snapping open much as Kat's had done. He blinked several times, breathing deeply. Then he sat up._

_He was still dressed in the torn clothes from the fight at the battle of the Department of Mysteries. Harry! Was he…? No, he shut his eyes and remembered. He had seen Harry. Seen him grieve, seen him training with Moody._

_Then he turned his head to gaze at his wife._

_With an unseen move, Kathryn was suddenly by his side, hugging him desperately, crying and babbling incoherently, smoothing her hands over his bearded face. But he deciphered a few words._

"_I'm so sorry… I love you…"_

_And then nothing she had done – nothing _he_ had done – mattered. He kissed her with all the passion of a husband who had just come home from war, and in many ways he was._

_She accepted the kiss, but sneezed as he broke it. He stared at her. She called her wand to her, and cast a charm. Instantly, he was clean-shaven._

"_Much better."_

_They had another kiss, that literally heated the air around them, literally had the Earth move as their elements manifested._

_Then they heard coughing. Lily and James had awoken and were both coughing furiously._

"_The fire may have had some posthumous damage on their lungs." Kathryn suggested, and began to cast healing spells._

_Then she collected each of the fallen jewels, now just normal, albeit large, jewels. She returned them to her box, and scuffed out the circle, murmuring quietly, "Thank you, elements."_

_Replacing the tools she had used for the ritual in her boxes and shrinking them, she snapped her fingers, the robes reforming back into her black stealth clothes. She turned to her friends and they nodded. Their clothes instantly became black and more practical for an escape, though wool and cotton, rather than her leather trousers._

"_Kat, how can we…?" James began._

"_Hush. You've saved my life, all of you." She grinned. "I'm just returning the favour." She removed the spells from the door and scattered the signs of her ritual. "Now, quiet as we leave. We don't want to leave any further traces."_

"_Why not?"_

"_We have some things to do before we can officially return to the wizarding world."_

_They didn't question her as they left. They were silent until they got to the end of the Department._

_And then Kat tripped a ward._

"_Shit!" She exclaimed. "Run! Apparate to our house!"_

_The four scattered as they avoided Aurors pouring into the floor, and Apparated as they hit the Atrium._

_Escaped to the house Kat and Sirius had lived in during the war, they were surprised to see it clean._

"_What the…"_

"_Peppy cleaned." Kat replied. She sighed. "I guess I have some explaining to do…"_

XXXXX _End Flashback_ XXXXX

"Damn right she did." Sirius snorted as Kat closed her tale.

"Oh, shut up, you." Kat replied, and sighed. "If I hadn't gone and preserved that future, Magic herself would have attacked me and removed me forcibly from the picture. Probably via another coma, and I wasn't going to risk Selene going to your mother. She'd have attacked the twins to get her if she had to." Kathryn shuddered.

"Yes, well, we all know my mother was a crazy old bat who spent too much time considering the purity of her blood and not enough time washing." Sirius sighed. "So, any questions?"

"Where did you find the ritual?" Hermione asked.

"Temple in the Amazon that only appears once in a while. And then I had to find the _rest_ of the ritual and legends regarding the Elemental Guardians. It was hard work. Thank God for Anne as well as Peppy…"

"Anne?" Sirius asked.

"I mentioned her before, remember? She's who the kids were staying with this summer. Anne Black – well, she's Anne Oakley now." She sniggered. "Her last name was a godsend. She stayed with us, and acted as the kids' aunt, she's Orion's godmother. We claimed she was your sister."

"You have a picture?" Sirius asked.

Kathryn dug out her purse and showed a picture taken in a Muggle photobooth.

Long dark hair and distinctive grey eyes. Sirius snorted. "I always thought my father didn't mind _certain aspects_ of Muggles. Namely their females."

"What?"

"I'm almost positive we're related. We could do a _parentis_ spell when you take me to meet her, if you like. Father stopped shagging Mother when he had 'an heir and a spare'. He found other females to entertain him."

"I didn't need to know that." James shuddered.

The children nodded.

"What about my parents?" Neville asked. "How did you return their sanity?"

"Well…" Lily began.

XXXXX _Flashback_ XXXXX

"_Who are you here to see?" The friendly nurse at the entrance to the Janus Thickney Ward smiled at the four strangers._

"_Our friends." Lily responded, making careful eye contact, carefully sinking into the woman's mind, planting the suggestions necessary that she could trigger as they left._

"_Sorry, I'll need names."_

"_My husband and I are here to Jack Orenda and Radella Leigh." Kathryn replied smoothly. None of the four could be recognised due to Kathryn's glamours, their only identifying feature being the eyes no amount of magic seemed able to disguise._

"_We're here to see the Longbottoms." James continued, his voice wan._

"_You knew them?"_

"_We were friends and colleagues. We've been away for a while…"_

"_Well, that's fine. If you'll just pass the security gate? After last year, we're taking no risks."_

"_What happened?"_

"_Disguised Devil's Snare killed a patient."_

"_I read about that, Bode, wasn't it?" Kathryn asked, a casual flick of her wrist tricking the security gate._

"_I think so, I was down on the Maternity Ward." The woman shrugged._

"_Okay, if you'll just sign your names in the visitors' book, you're free to enter."_

_They obeyed with smirks._

Mr and Mrs I M Sore_ was given by Sirius._

Lord and Lady Blight_ was James' contribution._

_The women rolled their eyes as they entered the ward._

"_Honestly, how old are you?" Lily demanded as they walked in. _

"_I've been dead for fifteen years, I have to get my kicks somehow." James replied._

"_I'd say coming back from the dead is a pretty big prank." Kat smirked. "Can you imagine Snivellus' reaction?"_

"_Kat, you shouldn't…"_

"_I have every right to antagonise the bastard, Lily." Kathryn snapped back. "What he did to me… to Sirius…"_

_Sirius looked at her sharply. "You know? You remember?"_

"_Visions can be handy. I've managed to get a portion of my original childhood back, like I told you. I also uncovered memories my mind had locked away." Kathryn explained. "Let's just say I have perfect blackmail material. He can't claim he was spying then. He said he wasn't in court. Hell, he wasn't even a Death Eater."_

"_Can we concentrate on the mission, please?" James asked._

"_Okay. Kat and I'll take Jack and 'Della. You get Frank and Alice." Sirius ordered._

"_And make sure it's quiet. We don't want anyone to think this is a Death Eater attack. We have no casualties, and as few manipulated memories as possible." Kat reminded them. "You placed the triggers in her head?" She asked Lily._

"_Yep. It's like riding a bike. We're just going to have a lot of fun freeing them from their own minds." She grimaced._

"_Come on. Hospitals give me the creeps." Kat shuddered, remembering her five years there._

_Lily and James headed into the main ward-room, looking for the alcove where Frank and Alice lay._

_When they arrived, it was all they could do not to cry out._

_Their strong, vibrant, funny friends were painfully thin. Frank's hair was entirely white and thinning, Alice's greying at too early an age. Their skin was pale and wan from too little time in the sun, their muscles thin and weak from disuse._

"_Oh God, James." Lily whispered._

"_Hush." James ordered, but his eyes held the same pain. He scanned around, no one was looking at them. "We'll have them right soon, Lils, I promise." He whispered into her hair, drawing her close. "Got the 'keys?"_

_Lily withdrew two pieces of green silk in the shape of ivy leaves. She stuck each one to the frame of the Longbottoms' beds. Quickly, she took down all of the personal touches, placing them on the beds. They would be transported to an empty room in their current base of operations._

"_Freedom." Lily whispered and the beds disappeared with their occupants._

_They met Kat and Sirius in the corridor._

"_You're done?" Kat asked, her voice raw with emotion._

"_Yeah. You?" James checked._

"_Done. We've got to go. Gonna do your thing, Medea?" Sirius asked._

_Lily nodded as they walked towards the exit._

"_Did you have a good visit?" The nurse asked._

_Kat gave a non-committal nod, aimed not at the nurse, but Lily. Lily nodded back and placed a hand on the nurse's arm._

"_Thank you for being so helpful." Lily murmured._

_The nurse turned to smile at her. "Well, I'm just doing my j…" Her voice trailed away as Lily's eyes swirled with power, and the woman's mind seemed to sink into them. She fell and Kat placed her in her seat._

"_She'll be discovered soon." Sirius noted. "What's she going to remember?"_

"_Nothing but 'sinking into ocean pools', and four unidentifiable figures." Lily replied. "Gotta leave a mark."_

_Kathryn grinned and her fingers sprouted fire. "Individual?"_

"_Of course."_

_The door to the Janus Thickney Ward held four markings, those of four vigilantes. Fire Star, Earth Diamond, Wind Flower and Water Stag._

_A few minutes later, the four reappeared in James and Lily's home, James' ancestral home, Griffin's Roost, in Scotland._

"_So what now?" Kathryn asked._

"_Hate to say it, but the Longbottoms first. They've been incapacitated the shortest time, so it's safest to try the spell on them first. You're sure…"_

"_No I'm not. But I trust you, Lily. _They_ trust you. Neville would trust you, for all that all he knows of you is that you died saving one of his friends and schoolmates." Kathryn assured her._

_James took up the words. "You're Evans. You're Lily Potter. You're the Wind Flower and the Air Elemental Guardian. You're Harry Potter's mother, James Potter's wife, the Marauders' Medea, the Enchanted's Charm. You will succeed."_

_Lily smiled at her husband and kissed him softly. "Thank you. I'll take Alice first, I knew her better, for all I partnered Frank."_

_They nodded._

"_I'll get him, you set up in the Ritual Room." James told her._

"_You've got supplies?" Lily asked Kathryn._

"_What herbs and potions I could find. I didn't know what to use."_

"_Doesn't matter. As long as they have the right properties…" She mused and nodded. "We'll create a circle, like the one you did to resurrect us. I'll head the spell. That way I can draw on you if I need to, and I'll be able to do more in the time. Radella will need a night of her own then. The fracturing of her mind owing to the werewolf half… it will take more time to find 'Radella'."_

_Kathryn nodded as they entered the room._

_On a bench was placed what she had used and what supplies she had._

"_Comfrey?"_

"_Safety during travel – for you and them." Kat replied. "I figured it might help you find them, and guide them safely out."_

_Lily nodded. "That's good. I wouldn't have considered that. Fennel?"_

"_Protection, healing, purification. They'll need all three, because we'll have to purify any remnants of the spell on them."_

_Another nod. "Rosemary?"_

"_For remembrance." Kat chuckled. "And a whole host of other things. It's a good all-round herb. Includes healing, exorcism and mental powers."_

"_Excellent. And the remembrance should help brilliantly." Lily nodded._

_Carefully, she trailed the herbs in a large circle, and she and Kathryn set up the bowls holding the symbols of the elements at each of the compass points, much as Kathryn had a few nights before._

_As each of the Elemental Guardians sat down at their compass point, Lily took in several deep breaths to calm her nerves and cleanse herself._

I _will_ do this, _she thought. _I have to.

_She nodded to Sirius._

"_Earth, Guardian of the North, thy son begs thy help to save his friends." Sirius incanted, placing a hand over the bowl of soil and his jewel and watching them glow._

"_Water, Custodian of the West, thy son requests thy aid to save his friends." James murmured, a glow arising from the bowl of water and the brilliant sapphire._

"_Fire, Protect of the South, thy daughter beseeches thy assistance to save her friends." Kat incanted, a fire springing from the bowl and ruby._

"_Air, Warden of the East, thy daughter begs thy support to save her friends. Strengthen my powers and my will and allow me into the mind of Alice Longbottom, Auror, friend, wife and mother!"_

_A flash of light._

"_Comfrey, for the safety of travellers." Lily incanted, and a green light shone through the circle of leaves. "Fennel, for protection, purification and healing." Another flash of green. "Rosemary, for remembrance. For healing, for the strengthening of mental powers." A final flash of green magic. "Aid me and strengthen me, allow me to save my friends!"_

"_Daughter, your request is granted." The air seemed to sing in Lily's ears._

_She didn't see her friends and husband collapse to the ground as ruby, sapphire and diamond light flowed into her body, fortifying her for the magic ahead. She didn't notice herself stand and approach the bed Alice lay upon. She only felt her fingertips press against Alice's temples, and suddenly she was gone from the room…_

"_**Alice?"** Lily called, staring around her. She was on an empty, dusty plain. A few trees were left in the scrub, and Lily knew that these were the few memories that had not been packed away._

"_**Alice, where are you?"** Lily yelled as she began to walk through the emptiness that had become her friend's mind._

_She seemed to have walked for hours, and she was beginning to understand why the plain was there._

A defence mechanism, _she realised. _She locked her mind away to avoid more damage, to hide from the pain.

_Finally she came across something different. A circle of mountains, nearly impenetrable._

"_**So this is where you're hiding."** Lily observed._

_She circled the mountains, searching for a gap, until finally she gave up and gathered what power she could._

"_**Air, give me strength."** She whispered and manipulated the air currents._

_She flew over the mountain-tops, then down. Lily stumbled as she landed, unable to believe what was hidden inside the fortress._

_A paradise. A garden paradise. Green of every shade, flowers blooming everywhere, a crystalline waterfall pouring from a mountainside into a pool and river._

_This was Alice's inner mind. A garden of hope and happiness. And she knew she would find Alice attending it, dressed in old, earth-coloured robes and a stained apron, her feet bare, her wand put through her long hair to tie it up._

_And she was right. Alice was planting new flowers beside the pool beneath the waterfall._

"_**Alice?"**_

_Alice whipped around, fear in her eyes, diminishing only slightly as she recognised the woman before her._

"_**Lily?"** Alice frowned. The redhead looked completely wrong in the garden, dressed as she was in black leather. **"Your outfit needs changing."**_

_Lily found herself dressed in fitted emerald green robes of linen, her feet bare and her hair loose, with a wreath of flowers on her forehead._

"_**Alice, I'm not here for fashion advice."** Lily warned her. Alice ignored her as she went back to planting. Lily grabbed her arm. **"Alice, we need you!"**_

"_**I'm not leaving! I'm not going back to the pain!"**_

"_**Alice, there is none! You've been trapped in your own mind for over fourteen years! Your son is sixteen!"**_

_Alice froze, staring at her. **"Neville?"**_

_Lily nodded. **"Alice, Voldemort has returned. Neville needs you. He needs to see his true parents, not the shells he sees and loves anyway. He needs to learn from you, love you. He needs to love you for who you are, not just because you're his parents. You need to teach him. He wants to fight, he's going to have to fight. Bellatrix Lestrange…"**_

"_**She wasn't captured?"**_

"_**Oh she was. But Voldemort released them from Azkaban. Alice, Neville fought against her just a month and a half ago. She hit him with the Cruciatus, and he refused to break. He needs you now, more than ever. He needs to see the popular, well-loved Aurors everyone else sees, not the broken parents Augusta tells him to be proud of."**_

"_**I can't leave. My garden…"**_

"_**Is your mind. There is a wasteland out there, Alice." **Lily gestured outside of the mountain, frustration in her voice. **"A wasteland that is your empty mind. It protects you, but it entraps you. You must nurture that. It will be hard and brutal, but you will be the better for it."**_

"_**Frank…"**_

"_**I'm going to save him too."**_

"_**They threatened Neville, Lily…"**_

"_**And they will again. He, my Harry, the Weasleys…"**_

"_**Weasleys?"**_

"_**My Harry's best friend is their youngest son, and his best female friend is best friends with their daughter, Ginny. All are friends with Neville. And his female friend, Hermione, Kat says she's brilliant – and Muggle-born. You know how purebloods react to someone with such credentials."**_

"_**She's like you…"**_

_Lily nodded. **"Alice, they need your help. We all do."**_

_Alice suddenly looked at her strangely. **"Lily, you're dead."**_

_Lily laughed. **"Dead or not, I'm here to help you. And I am no longer. We'll explain if you come out."**_

"_**That's blackmail."**_

"_**Actually, I think it's extortion."**_

"_**Lily…"**_

"_**Take my hand, Alice. Take it and we'll nurture the wasteland."**_

_Alice looked at her uncertainly. She didn't know what to do. Leave her safety and risk the horrors of war again? Stay safe and abandon her son and his friends? She couldn't abandon Neville. Not after she had already._

_She gave a nod._

"_**Take me, Lily. Neville needs my help."**_

_Lily smiled, tears in her eyes, and took Alice's hand. Slowly, they rose up into the air._

"_**Destroy the mountains, Alice."** Lily ordered. **"They trap you, box you in. Destroy the mountains and release your memory and yourself."**_

_Alice nodded, pulled her wand from her hair and closed her eyes, summoning her magic and her courage. One last step. One last step and she would be free…_

"**REDUCTO_!"_**_ Alice screamed at the mountains._

_There was a tiny boom, then the mountains collapsed into dust. The garden seemed to bulge for a second, then the plants and life seemed to race out. The waterfall on a remaining mountain got larger and fuller, and several rivers ran from the pool to irrigate the land. Trees sprang up, vines and ivy clasping onto them. Grasses, shrubs, brilliant bushes of flowers appeared and life came to the wasteland._

_Alice gasped as she felt the change, as she finally felt the truth._

"_**I'm so weak."** She murmured._

"_**A few weeks of healing and training and you'll be back to normal. Then we'll work on fitness."** Lily smiled. **"Go on, I'll be waiting outside."**_

_Alice opened her real eyes to see a smiling Lily looking down on her._

"_Lils?"_

"_Yes, Alice."_

_Alice burst into tears, hugging her friend for dear life._

XXXXX _End Flashback_ XXXXX

"Wow." Neville murmured. He looked at Lily. "Thank you, Mrs Potter."

Lily went crimson. "It was the least I could do. Alice helped drag me back from Greece, and Frank did the same to James in America."

"Yeah, how come _you_ got to go to Greece anyway?" Kathryn suddenly looked indignant. "You got to go somewhere exotic, and we went to the cold half of the US!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "They figured that you'd be better at dragging James home. You always had this ability to guilt people into doing what you wanted."

Kathryn looked horrified. "I _what_? I don't guilt people!"

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes you –"

"As fascinating as this infantile conversation is, we have better things to do that listen to you two argue each other into bed." Lily commented, inspecting her nails.

The kids pulled looks and Kat's brothers looked disgusted.

"Lily, don't say things like that." Joseph told her. "We still like to labour under the impression she's our little sister and she found her kids under a gooseberry bush."

"What do you mean 'labour under the impression I'm your little sister'?" Kat demanded. "I _am_ your little sister. Not so little anymore, nor the littlest, but…"

"Just don't give us any impression that you know what sex is."

Harry went red. "Can we _please_ change the subject? Adults aren't supposed to have sex lives."

"What?"

"Well, did _you_ ever want to hear about your parents or godparents going at it?"

The adults stared at him, then shuddered.

"Lily, James, he definitely gained your ability to silence a room." Remus grinned.

"What about Rad– Mum?" Tala asked.

"You had more trouble?" Conall finished.

Lily nodded. "The wolf was extremely protective of her human side. I had to get past the wolf and an empty hospital complete with booby traps to find Radella." She sighed. "Jack had similar format to his mind – an empty hospital. Frank's was the Ministry, with him locked up in one of the DMLE cells."

"Our minds will be subconsciously structured around things we know and recognise…" Hermione began.

"Which is why Hermione's would be a library with millions of books for each piece of information she knows." Ron teased. "Ow!" Hermione had punched him in the arm.

"Technically, I think he was complimenting your intelligence, Hermione." Kat suggested.

Hermione blushed as Ron nodded.

"Oh."

Dumbledore looked at his watch. "Is that the time? Dear me. You had better get to bed. Such conversations can be continued over the coming days."

XXXXX

A/N:

Well? Good, bad? Any questions, just ask!

Chapter 1 of _Dark Queen and White Knight_ is also going up, with a one-shot from that universe – _Bloody Sands_.

Please review!

Lol, Tanydwr


	8. Chapter 8: Flight

-1Sorry this has taken so long for my to finish, but A-level exams, real life, work and general panic and writer's block conspired against me in getting this done. Not as long as I'd like it to be, but that's nothing to worry about.

On the bright side, I got 3 As and 2 Bs in my A-levels, so I'm off to uni in three weeks.

I don't own the lyrics to the Disney version of _Can You Feel the Love Tonight?_, though the modifications are mine.

Hope you enjoy it!

**Chapter 8: Flight**

_3rd September 2003:_

The students of Hogwarts had been blessed with the fact that their first school day was a Friday, followed by a relatively free weekend. The students who had recently received their family members back were further blessed. Because now they would actually have the chance to speak to their parents.

However, on wakening early, Harry's thoughts were not of speaking to his parents but of taking the opportunity to 'sort out his head'. He headed to the kitchens for a light breakfast, and tried to decide what to do.

He had two options. Physical training in the Room of Requirement and flying on the Quidditch pitch. Deciding that his training would wait until later – perhaps as a way of clearing his head _after_ speaking to his parents – he headed outside and summoned his broom.

The newly-polished and tuned Firebolt headed out of the window in his direction, and he jumped on it as it darted towards him with practised ease. Holstering his wand, he pulled on the broom to take him up in a near vertical climb.

He screamed in happiness. Having not been able to fly for so long, Harry revelled in the exhilaration of it being just him, the broom and the air. Wind blew his hair every which-way, but he did not care. All he thought of was the wonders of flying.

And in the air, thinking only of flight, hope and life, he cleared his thoughts and centred himself.

XXXXX

In the Great Hall, Hermione frowned at Ron.

"Where's Harry?" She asked.

Ron shrugged. "Haven't seen him. I think he got up early."

"Does he have a broomstick that flies without anyone on it?" Conall asked, his voice dry.

"No, he has a Firebolt." Ginny frowned.

"Unless he summoned it. Why?" Hermione asked, picking up a forkful of scrambled eggs.

"Well, I saw a broom fly out the window. He musta gone flying."

Ginny's head darted up. "Harry's gone flying?"

"Yeah, why?" Conall asked.

"He was banned from Quidditch last year and his broom was confiscated by Umbitch. This is the first chance he's had." She scooped up a piece of jammy toast and her robes.

"Where are you going?"

"To watch. The only time Harry looks better than when he's training is when he's on a broom." She gave her friends a saucy wink and fled the Great Hall at a run.

"Should I be worried?" Ron asked Hermione, his tone extremely frank.

"Do you trust Harry?"

"Of course!"

"Then no, there's no need to be worried."

"What's the big fuss about Harry on a broom?" Selene asked. "Why's it such a big deal?"

"Harry is one of the most spectacular fliers Hogwarts has ever seen." Neville admitted quietly.

"There aren't many who can outrun a Hungarian Horntail on just their broom." Hermione pointed out. "I hate flying, and even I acknowledge his skill."

"Half the Quidditch teams try and spy on us in practise and Harry's the one they're most interested in." Ron pointed out. "Only time he lost a match was when Dementors entered the pitch – hard to stay on a broom when you have your mother's dying screams replaying in your head."

Lily Potter, playing with air waves to listen to conversations, froze at that. Surely not…

"Harry's one of the strongest people I know." Ron continued. "And probably a better flier than his dad, from all I've heard."

Lily raised a brow. Funny how it was never _her_ Quidditch skills praised, for all she'd only played in her last year.

"And of course he's Quidditch Captain this year." Hermione commented nonchalantly. "Ginny may've gone to ask him about try-outs while his mind is on flying. She's after a Chaser's spot."

"As long as she's not after Seeker still!" Ron chuckled. "We want to keep Harry where he is!"

"I don't know, he's grown this year…"

"He's still slighter than most professionals. It'll only count against him at school, and even then he's got the skills to make up for it." Ron pointed out. "Harry could go professional. Sure, he'd need further training, but considering he caught a remembrall the first time on a broom… you can't train that instinct, Mione."

"Mione?" She raised a brow. He grinned.

"I think I want to see what you're waxing philosophical about." Selene grinned. "After all he is my… god-brother, I guess." She looked around. "Orion's not up. No surprise there."

"He play Quidditch?"

"Beater. And I've had bruises to prove it. Much to my mother's disgust, I'm not overly fond of Quidditch, though I love flying."

The twins and Halimeda – "Please, Meda _only_!" – agreed.

Justin Finch-Fletchley raised a brow at the number of Gryffindors rising and leaving, all intent on a direction.

"What's up?" He snagged Neville.

"Oh, we're trying to prove Harry's probably the best flier in the school." Neville grinned.

"How?"

"We're under the impression he's flying."

Justin grinned. "This I gotta see."

Lily's brows rose at seeing a number of others rise to follow the group of Gryffindors.

"James." She whispered, kissing her husband's temple softly.

"Yes?"

"Harry's flying."

James froze. "What?"

"Apparently, he's outside flying. And from what I heard, and the emotions I couldn't ignore, this is something of a spectacle."

Kathryn heard her and grinned. "He only lost one match out of… seven? Eight? And that was only due to Dementors on the pitch."

"Oh, yes, Potter is a remarkable flier." McGonagall chipped in. "I'm relying on him to keep the cup in my office this year."

"Professor?"

"Didn't he tell you?" She asked, smirking slightly. "I made him Quidditch Captain."

James' eyes widened, and Sirius grinned.

"I think we ought to see the new Quidditch captain in action." James grinned. "He's got quite a crowd already, who've seen him fly. He won't begrudge his old folks."

"I've seen him fly, James." Lily warned. "Of course, he was barely one, and I threatened to wallop you _with_ your broomstick…"

The others chuckled as they left the dining table, intent on seeing the so popular flying of their son and godson.

When they arrived at the pitch, there were a number of students watching in the stands, grinning from ear to ear. They watched in rapt fascination, and the teachers sat in the teachers' stand in order to see the famous young man.

The black-haired figure was tiny in the sky, barely discernable as any more than a blur of black and red. But as he dropped lower, they could see the expert swoops, loops and turns, executed with the precision of a professional and equally thrilling to watch. Lily stood in horror at the dangerous moves her son was executing, while her husband and friends watched in awe.

"He's even better than I imagined." Kathryn murmured, brushing strands of hair from her eyes to clear her view. The wind was stronger up there.

"He could play professionally." James stated. "And some of those moves… I must have missed out on a lot."

Kathryn examined Harry's flying with a critical eye. "Some, but I think he's making it up as he goes along."

Suddenly, Harry took himself into a sharp incline, flying higher and higher. At the peak… he dropped. The dive was near vertical, the wind roaring in his ears and rushing over his face as he took the Wronski Feint to its deadliest level. Faster and faster, and lower and lower, he descended to the hushed breath and universal awe of a captivated audience, totally unaware of their presence. His mind was focussed solely on the goal. Barely ten metres above the ground, he slowed fractionally, wrenched his broom up, skimmed the ground and performed a graceful somersault onto the grass. He stood there for a moment, his face serene and happy, at complete peace with himself for the first time in months.

The cheers came unexpectedly, and Harry opened his eyes to see most of the DA, the new arrivals to Gryffindor and his parents and godparents sat in the stands. His father and Sirius were whistling, Kathryn grinning and his mother looked torn between pride and admonishment.

Seconds later, he saw another fiery redhead make her way across the field and blanched as he saw the expression on her face.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" She shrieked. "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF _KILLED_?"

"Sirius, you didn't say he was going out with the redhead." James commented.

"From what I know, he isn't!"

"Don't you have a little more respect for my skills as a flyer than that?" Harry asked, slightly sharply.

"I have a great deal of respect for your skills, but I don't think doing a Wronski Feint from a thousand feet is _skilled_! It's bloody _suicidal_!" Ginny raged. She aimed a hand to slap him, but he caught it firmly, catching it to his chest.

"Why would I be suicidal when I'm at peace for the first time in my life?" Harry asked, his voice soft.

Ginny melted. "Harry, I…"

"You worry." He smiled teasingly. "You get that from your mum. Ginny, I have everything I ever wanted. But I'm terrified."

"Why would you…"

"My parents remember me at age one. I've changed so much. It's going to be hard for them to reconcile their baby boy with a nearly grown-up son." Harry murmured. "I've not even had a proper conversation with them."

"Then why aren't you talking to them?"

"I'm terrified, remember?" Harry joked. "On the other hand, we can diffuse the tension that's clearly being built up, none of them know what we're talking about."

"Which one?"

"Did you set them?"

Ginny shot him a look that clearly said she was insulted by his lack of faith.

"Of course, silly question. I'll set the Room of Requirement ones tonight."

"I'm nervous about that. Hogwarts is practically sentient, and we're tying spells to the castle itself. If she decides to awaken and manipulate the spells herself…"

"We'll have Voldemort singing _Be Prepared_ in the middle of an attack." Harry grinned. "Don't worry."

"So, a song…"

"Well, once you activate it, we don't have a choice." Harry pointed out.

"What song?"

"Let the ghosts decide." Harry grinned, finally releasing her wrist.

Ginny nodded and snapped her fingers to randomly select a song. What neither expected was the burst of magic that was flung from each corner of the Quidditch pitch and infused around them in a ghostly glow, sinking into their skin as strains of music began to play and they felt themselves compelled to move to music and sing as they spoke.

Kat gripped Sirius' hand. "That's from _The Lion King_."

"What?"

"Hush…"

Harry and Ginny looked at each other, smiling shyly, then turned away, to address their 'audience' almost beseechingly.

"_Can you feel the love tonight?_

_The peace the evening brings_

_The world, for once, in perfect harmony_

_With all its living things._" They sang in perfect unison, harmonies blending for perfect notes.

Harry shot a furtive look at Ginny, then looked up at his parents to sing.

"_So many things to tell her_

_But how to make her see?_

_The truth about my past? Impossible._" He shook his head.

"_She'd turn away from me._"

Ginny considered Harry, a confused questioning look on her face as she looked to the others, to speak to them.

"_He's holding back, he's hiding,_

_But what, I can't decide._

_Why won't he be the man I know he is?_

_The man I see inside?_"

They turned to each other again, clasping their hands lightly as they sang, and the entire stadium seemed to light up with their words.

"_Can you feel the love tonight?_

_The peace the evening brings._

_The world, for once, in perfect harmony,_

_With all its living things._

_Can you feel the love tonight?_

_You needn't look too far._

_Stealing through the night's uncertainties,_

_Love is where they are._"

Ginny walked forward, placing a hand on Harry's cheek to look into his eyes as she sang.

"_And if he feels the love tonight,_

_In the way I do…_"

Harry smiled at her, clasping her hand to his chest once more.

"_It's enough for this restless wanderer…_"

They sang the last line in harmony, the last note serene and perfectly understated, yet resounding around the pitch.

"_Just to be with you._"

The notes faded away and the pair separated quickly, blushing deeply.

"What the _hell_ was that?" Harry demanded harshly of the sky, after sending a secret grin at Ginny.

"That's what I'd like to know, mate." Ron announced, making his way onto the pitch. "You coming onto my sister?"

Harry shot him a smirk. "And just what would you do if I was?"

"Warn you. Mum's probably had the wedding planned since you saved Ginny's life."

Harry and Ginny went scarlet as the others laughed and guffawed.

"You have a wonderful singing voice – both of you, in fact." Selene observed.

"Yeah, but what set us off singing?" Harry asked.

"_Beware the phantoms of Hogwarts School._" Hermione trilled with a sly smirk.

Harry went red. "But it's just a prank. And how could they prank us out here? I didn't even go to breakfast."

"House elves." Ginny mused. "Or some kind of set up round the pitch with a trigger."

The adults, meanwhile, were making their way onto the pitch after suggesting that the spectators find something else to do with their time. James and Sirius were impressed.

"That was amazing, Harry!" James enthused, clapping his son on the back.

"What, the song or the dive?" Kathryn asked, her voice sarcastic.

James replied with a gesture that caused Hermione to turn away, covering her hands with her eyes.

"He's a teacher, he didn't do that. He's a teacher, my eyes are playing tricks on me. He's a -"

"Marauder." Ron interrupted.

"And I wouldn't think that's the worst he's ever done. Or you'll ever see from him." Lily commented, amused. "Although it strikes me that Kathryn has the foulest - and most inventive - mouth of all of us, though Remus came close."

"_Remus_?" Hermione asked in shock.

"Aye, it's always the quiet ones." Sirius remarked philosophically, then grinned at Kat's raised brow. "Of course, Kat isn't all that quiet. She even talks in her sleep."

"I do not!"

Lily choked back a snigger.

"What's that, Medea?" Kat challenged.

"My dear Mystique, let me remind you I shared a room with you for two years." Lily commented dryly, the amusement in her eyes all too Harry-like for his friends' comfort. It seemed Harry had more from his mother than his father in temperament. "Including that summer in between. My bedroom wasn't _that_ big, unlike yours."

"Hey, that's not…"

"I seem to remember some interesting comments." By now, Kat was going red and Lily grinning wickedly. "I think one was 'No, we'll get caught'…"

"Which they did, frequently." James interjected, nodding towards Sirius.

"Only because you lot got the best spots first." Sirius argued.

" 'Why _can't_ I turn Skeeter into a bug _permanently_?' Note the emphasis on the 'can't' and 'permanently'. Never did like her."

Harry grinned. "We do. Particularly as she can't say anything about us we don't like, or she gets turned into the Ministry." He gestured to Hermione. "Hermione's rather good at entrapment."

"As an ex-Auror, I didn't hear that." James stated with dignity. Then he grinned. "As me, I say well done, girl."

"And, my favourite, 'James, Lily doesn't need proof of your idiocy, so _for God's sake, do not remove Snivellus' pants_!'" Lily laughed.

The students shuddered.

"He didn't, by the way." Sirius pointed out to Harry, who had gone pale at the memory he had seen. "We wouldn't have inflicted that on the school's population."

"And they grew up over the following summer." Kathryn grinned. "I like to think that it's because that's when I woke up, but, alas, it was their idiocy."

James looked grim at the memory. "We left a potion we were brewing for a prank unattended. It boiled over and then exploded - my mother was caught in the explosion. She was fine, no ill effects, but it taught us a lesson."

"Of course, it also meant Sirius was the first thing I saw when I woke up from my coma, which probably resulted in the mental damage I must have required to marry the daft git…" Kathryn commented.

"Mum!" Selene complained.

Kathryn grinned. "Aww, now, Lenie, your father's got nearly fifteen years to make up for of embarrassment. Not to mention neither of us has had the chance to embarrass you in front of your friends."

Harry just stared. Was this what having a family was going to be like? Insane?

"Have you had breakfast yet, Harry?" Ginny asked.

"No. Kitchens?"

"Certainly." James grinned. "And glad to see you know where the kitchens are."

"Of course. I have the Map."

James raised a brow. "And how did you get that? I was under the impression we had it confiscated."

Harry nodded. "You did. However, when the twins were in their first year, young and innocent…" he snorted for effect, "they ended up in Filch's office. I can't remember what it was for now. Dungbombs, probably. Anyway, they saw a drawer marked _Confiscated and Highly Dangerous_…"

"I see." James nodded. "They whipped it? The Weasley twins?"

"Yep. Worked out how to use it - no doubt encouraged by your parchment selves. Gave it to me in third year when I couldn't go to Hogsmeade owing to a slight disagreement with Uncle Vernon related to Aunt Marge and the mad murderer out to get me."

"Voldemort?" James asked.

Sirius barked in laughter. "_Me_, idiot! 'Course, no one knew I was innocent… 'Cept the self-exiled Kat and Peter who was posing as Ron's pet rat."

"He was Percy's first…" Ron protested.

"Disagreement?" Lily asked, looking at Harry with a raised brow.

"Umm, well, I made a deal with. If I behaved, he'd sign the Hogsmeade form. Of course, I was determined only to be civil as long as she was. And she _never_ was." He pointed out. "I'd nearly managed it. Then she had too much to drink." He rolled his eyes at this, it was obviously a family trait. "She started on you, Dad, saying you were unemployed and a drunk, that you'd been drinking when you 'died in a car crash'," those words were bitter, "as though you didn't care that your infant son was in the back seat. Then her brandy glass shattered. To this day, I don't know if it was my magic or her grip. Then she started on Mum." He looked down.

James went rigid. "_What_ did she say about Lily?"

For the first time, Harry knew exactly what had made his father yell for Lily to leave with such horror on the night of his death. He swallowed. "She likened Mum to a dog. Saying that there was bad blood, if there was something 'wrong' with th-the 'bitch'," he spat out the word, "there'd be something wrong with pup. She might've said more, I can't remember. There was an intense pressure in my head and my magic broke free. She, uh, blew up."

James' eyes popped. "What? You - she - exploded!"

Harry's eyes flew towards him. "What? No! I mean, inflated. With air. She, uh, went floating over Surrey." He blushed.

Most of the others grinned, Lily looked torn between pride at her son's defending her name and shame at his magic's decision, while James looked apologetic.

"Sorry, I was slightly worried you'd inherited my talent." He explained.

"What talent?" Harry asked.

A ball of ice formed in James' hand and he flung it into the air, only to fling out a hand and for it to shatter into splinters. A twist of his wrist stopped it in mid-air. Kat smirked and shot out a flame for each splinter to melt and fall to the ground as a mere droplet.

"Along with our elements, we gained further wandless abilities. Mine, as you can see, is causing something to explode or 'blow up', as well as slowing time."

"Before we died, you were progressing further as well." Lily recalled. "We went to Albus about it. You seemed to be moving at ultraspeed."

"I just started on my illusion abilities then." Kat recalled. "And I had the feeling you were about to achieve astral projection, Sirius, which would've been handy, actually. You could've sent one self after Peter, then disappeared, while your other self was at work. Or even while you were in prison."

"Except for that pesky problem of maintaining the time line." Sirius pointed.

Kat nodded sadly. "Except for that."

"You have other abilities then?" Hermione asked. "Unrelated ones?"

"To our elements, yes. The abilities themselves are related. Lily's are all mind abilities - empathy, telepathy, psychometry, the ability to actually see into and restructure minds as she did with the others. James' are molecular-based - speeding the vibrations around molecules to the point they combust or slowing them to the poin the literally 'stops time'. The rest suggests the ability to speed his own molecules to make himself appear to move faster than time or light. He also has the power to heal - we think that's based on manipulating a body's own molecules to bind a wound and even using the body's natural magic to heal them. My own are based around appearance - wandless transfiguration, shape-shifting and illusions. Sirius' are movement-based - telekinesis, transportation, levitation and possible astral projection."

"Transportation?" Hermione asked.

"Similar to Apparition, soundless, unobstructed by _any_ wards expect those related to magic itself, and with the ability to take many at a time." Sirius replied. "It's funny, I could have got out of Azkaban at any point, but the first things I forgot were my abilities because they provided me with comfort. The magic of Azkaban also discourages independent thought along with the Dementors. I only barely remembered Padfoot."

"That's horrible." Ginny gasped.

"Aye, but it works well on stopping criminals escaping." Harry stated grimly. "Problem is that the wizarding world's never heard of 'innocent until proven guilty'."

Hermione suddenly sniggered.

"What?"

"I was just thinking about Trelawney's prediction."

"Which one?"

"After you pleased everyone but Umbridge with that newspaper article." Hermione grinned. "Ron told me."

Harry frowned, then groaned as he remembered.

"What's this?"

"Professor Trelawney has a habit of predicting Harry's death. Hasn't happened yet." Ron pointed out helpfully. "Last year, when the Ministry was still refusing to believe Harry and Dumbledore that Voldemort had returned, Harry gave an interview to the _Quibbler_, since the _Prophet_ hasn't reported anything but the Ministry's desired stories since the first war. Trelawney, naturally pleased with Harry standing up to the Ministry, said that Harry would live to a ripe old age, become Minister for Magic and have twelve children."

"I'm not going to put any woman through that much pain." Harry informed him.

"Two at a time. Adoption." Hermione suggested. She smirked at Ginny. "Some girls of you acquaintance probably have a genetic predisposition for twins."

"Hermione!" Ginny yelled shrilly. Hermione froze, almost catatonic, and fell to the floor.

"Mione!" Ron cried, falling to her side.

Ginny had clasped a hand over her mouth.

"Ginny, what happened?" Kathryn demanded.

"M-my Voice…"

"Voice?"

"She has a power of Voice. I thought you had it under control?" Harry asked as the others attended Hermione's fallen form. James spread his hands out over her, blue magic spilling from his hovering hands as Lily scanned her with her wand.

"S-so did I." Ginny blushed. "It's never happened like this before. And I only said her name…"

"Something's empowered it."

Harry groaned. "Why do these things always happen to us?"

Ron's head snapped up, recognising the rise of Harry's temper. "Harry…"

"No! It's not fair!" The younger boy snapped. "Everything happens to us! Voldemort, the prophecy, the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, Riddle's diary possessing Ginny, the Dementors, Pettigrew and Sirius and Remus on the full moon, the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Skeeter, Voldemort rising again, _more_ Dementors, me being tried by the entire bloody Wizengamot for defending myself, Umbitch and her goddamned blood quill, Nagini biting Mr Weasley, Kreacher betraying Sirius, Umbitch trying the Cruciatus, the Forbidden Forest - numerous times - the Department of Mysteries, Sirius dying… then everyone coming back from the dead or insanity and now Ginny's lost control of a power she had control of because something's made it stronger!" He ranted. "It's just - not - FAIR!"

Thunder rolled suddenly as a bolt of blue-green lightning struck the broom shed.

Harry froze, before passing out.

"From the ashes of the Flying House…" Kathryn murmured, remembering her vision and the 'prophecy' she had recited while in Voldemort 'care'.

"We'll get them to the Hospital Wing." James ordered, picking up his son and slinging him over his shoulder. "Kat, Sirius, we'll see you in Dumbledore's office. Miss Weasley - Ginny - please stay silent until we can work out exactly what's empowered your voice."

Ginny nodded and followed them in.

XXXXX

_Dumbledore's office:_

"They're settled in the Hospital Wing?" Dumbledore asked as Lily and James entered.

Lily nodded. "Yes. Harry appears to be magically exhausted. And Ginny somehow caused Hermione to collapse by causing a disruption with her balance - in the ear."

Dumbledore nodded. "Their powers have awoken."

"Powers?" Kathryn asked. "What powers?"

"They are the Elemental Warriors." Dumbledore replied. "You know it, Kathryn. Her new power has strengthened Miss Weasley's power to dangerous levels. She's one of the Elemental Warriors."

"But that's impossible." Kathryn stated, confused.

"No, it is not. But it is rare that the Elemental Warriors do spring from the Elemental Guardians. The Guardians themselves are rare – there have only been nine such groupings in wizarding history. Of the Warriors, only four times have they appeared previously. Once only, from the Guardians." Dumbledore explained.

"But I don't understand. How can she receive her power? She's only just turned fifteen!" James frowned, standing up and beginning to pace.

"It is in her power's nature. Also, as two of them are related, what affects her brother will affect her more closely." Dumbledore explained.

"So instead of it being Ginny's sixteenth the powers are awakened on…" Sirius began.

"It's Selene's." Kathryn finished. "Because Ginny's were effectively called when Ron turned sixteen?"

"That's about right." Dumbledore responded. "What confuses me is the six elements. I believed there were only four."

"Fire, water, earth and air." Lily nodded.

"Electricity – lightning." Kathryn stated. "That, in certain respects, could be an element. It forms in nature thriving from one or two of the others. Not to mention it would explain how Harry struck the broom-shed until it turned to ashes. Thank Zeus the school brooms hadn't been placed out yet."

Lily shot her a 'look' as Sirius continued with the list.

"And spirit, of course. What held our powers in balance is held by a person in their group." Sirius nodded. _That's what strengthened her Voice. It's related to her ability of spirit._

"What does this mean?" James wanted to know.

"It means that when Voldemort marked Harry, his element was part of what protected him. The shape of the mark… maybe even the destruction of your home." Dumbledore mused. "It might also explain Harry's struggle to master some of the more simple spells when harder ones come more easily. His powers have not been in balance because they were called to protect him at a very early age instead of at sixteen when his body was prepared to accept them. It might also account for part of his stunted growth and his sudden growth spurt."

"What?"

"Harry's powers appeared early, but he had no control and his body wasn't prepared." Kathryn translated. "Thus problems with his growth and magic. Most likely his magical reserves are much larger than they would have been because he's had to repress his power over lightning for so long."

"Okay, so how does that help us?"

Kathryn grinned. "Mouldyvort's goin' down!"

XXXXX

A/N:

That's it! Please give me feedback - I'm always anxious to know what you think. I hope it doesn't seem rushed at all, some parts feel that way.

Lol, Tanydwr


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